


A Spark of Hope

by JoieSW



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Angst, Dominant Kylo Ren, Dominant Rey, F/M, Feelings, First Kiss, Flashbacks, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Force Bond (Star Wars), Force Ghost(s), Gray Jedi, Happy Ending, Hux is Not Nice, Knights of Ren - Freeform, Kylo Ren Needs a Hug, Kylo Ren Redemption, Lightsabers, Loss of Virginity, Minor Character Death, OC, POV Kylo Ren, POV Rey (Star Wars), Reylo - Freeform, Slow Burn, Smut, Soulmates, Supreme Leader Kylo Ren
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-14
Updated: 2019-05-23
Packaged: 2019-10-28 11:10:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 23
Words: 35,982
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17786273
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JoieSW/pseuds/JoieSW
Summary: One year after the events of The Last Jedi, the Resistance is almost extinct. Only a dozen Resistance fighters are left. They hide on a small planet, usually only known by smugglers, Numidian Prime. Rey has a lot of time to think, and slowly realizes, that Kylo is maybe more important to her than she thinks. So, she decides to open the Force bond once again.Kylo at the same time, is the Supreme Leader of the First Order. Despite the fact that a lot of people still fear him and the First Order, most inhabitants of the First Order planets are thankful for the maintenance of the Order, even though freedom is almost none-existent.A lot of Resistance fighters don’t understand, why they are still fighting. To show them, that there is a reason to fight on, Leia sends Rey, Chewie, Finn and her old friend Lando Calrissian on a secret mission…





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to this fanfiction! This isn't the first one I'm writing, but the first I'm writing in English, so there could be some mistakes! Sorry for that!  
> I'll try to correct the mistakes I make, but I'm still learning. 
> 
> More informations (in case you want to read them :D) at the end of this chapter!

Rey stood outside of the new Resistance Base and looked up into the sky. The light of billions of stars was shining down on her face. She closed her eyes and inhaled the fresh, cool air into her lungs.

 

Rey liked the planet where the new base of the Resistance was located. The planet was called Numidian Prime, a jungle planet. She had heard that it had been a planet on which mostly smugglers were hiding, and Rey had also been told that Han Solo had won the Falcon here. Rey was wondering, if there were still smugglers here. Well, she had seen none. Only a few alien animals.

 

She thought about _him_. The young woman wondered if Ben was also looking at the stars right now, wherever he was now. She shut him off. One year ago. She didn’t like to admit it, but she missed him. Too much. And it made her angry, she felt like a traitor. Rey never talked about it with anybody. Not even with Leia, Finn or Poe. She always sensed when he was angry or sad, or felt other strong emotions-and it scared her. Mostly, Ben Solo was sad, and she wondered why. The Darksider even sometimes tried to push against her mental walls.

 

Someone careful rested a hand on her shoulder. She turned around and looked into Leia’s worried face. “Rey my dear, would you please come in? I’ve got to tell you and the others something very important.” Rey nodded and walked inside behind the general. Finn laid an arm around her shoulders and asked “Hey! Where have you been? We were looking for you.” “Just outside. I just needed some time for myself and some fresh air.” Finn stood in front of her. “Is everything alright? You seem…Sad?” “No…No. I’m fine.” Rey said and detached herself from her best friend to get some distance. She didn’t want to be near anybody. Finn looked confused into her eyes. Rey forced herself to smile and went ahead into the meeting room.

 

The very few members of the Resistance that were left sat in the room, Leia stood at the front, as always. The young Jedi sat down the back and examined the general curiously. What did she have to tell them?

 

“Good evening everyone. I know it’s very late, and most of you were already in their quarters, but this information is from absolute importance. I know, and you don’t have to deny it, that some of you wonder why we still fight against the First Order and... Kylo Ren.” She obviously had to put some effort into saying that name. “It seems like the galaxy has a firm, good leadership. But I have to say, I always felt that there was something wrong about the First Order, the dark side ruling the galaxy. And now my apprehension is confirmed.” The people began to murmur and after the crowd calmed down again, she continued to talk. “A spy gave us information which is, as I can say, lifechanging. The First Order tells the galaxy that they wiped out the slavery. But that’s not true. The spy told us, that slavery is still existing…in a horrible form. The First Order is forcing the locals on the planets in the Unknown Regions to work for them under horrible circumstances. As most of you may know, we don’t know much about the Unknown Regions, but this is a chance for us to open the eyes of the people living in our galaxy, because this galaxy is not meant to be ruled by the dark side!” The people in the room began to cheer and to clap and talked excited about what was going to come next.

 

“Guys! Please be quiet again!” Leia said a bit louder. A short moment later the crowd was quiet again and Leia continued. “But this are not the only good news I’ve got. Someone returned. Lando? Would you please come to the front?” Lando walked into Rey’s view. Of course, Rey had heard the stories of Han Solo’s best friend. He smiled and stood next to General Organa. “As maybe some of you know, Lando is still the leader of Cloud City, so, he is going to support us and will spend us some weapons and vessels. Of course, only that is not enough to defeat the whole First Order. They are still stronger, but this could be the spark that’ll light the fire.” She looked to the side at her old friend and smiled. “But for now, I think it’s enough. We will meet again tomorrow. Sleep well.”

 

With that, the other Resistance members left the room and went back to their quarters. Rey was about to go, when Leia said: “Rey? Would you please stay for a minute or two? Finn? You too, please.” The two friends nodded, looked at each other curiously and Leia began to talk. “As you maybe already know, we have to make sure that the spy isn’t lying to us. I think, you two should go with Chewie and Lando to the Unknown Regions. Lando insisted to come with you, and he did so much for us I owe him that. Would you go with them?” “Yes! Of course!” the friends said in common. Leia smiled proudly.

 

“Very good. You’ll leave the day after tomorrow. Finn, you’re dismissed. Rey, would you please stay for a minute?” Shortly after Finn left, Leia said: “Rey, what is wrong? You seem upset. Please talk to me.” Rey hesitated. Could she tell her about Ben? About their connection through the Force? She had to. She felt like she had to talk to someone, it was eating her alive. “Yes. There is something. I…I never told it anyone before and I…” she hesitated once again. “It’s alright, Rey. I’m not going to tell it to anybody. I promise.” Leia said, and Rey nodded. She trusted Leia with her life. She knew that the General wouldn’t tell it anybody.

 

Rey told her everything about the bond between her and Ben, how he pushed against her mental walls and how hard is was for her to hold back the urge to talk to him. She also told her that she had tried to turn Ben, and that he had stretched out his hand and asked her to join him, to leave her friends, the most important people in her life. The young woman explained to the former princess that they’d touched hands on Ahch-To and that they had talked a lot. Leia listened patiently.

 

After Rey finished, the General asked: “Do you think that there’s still good in him? I think you know him the best by now…” Leia asked sadly. “Yes, yes I am sure. The way he talked to me…I’m sure, someday he’ll turn. But…There’s something I don’t understand…” “Out with it.” “I always thought that Ben admires Darth Vader.” Leia seemed confused. “Yes. I think so. Sadly.” She answered. Rey nodded. “So why would he support slavery? Anakin Skywalker and his mother were slaves, weren’t they? You told me. I thought Ben would do everything to erase it out of the galaxy. I was sort of a slave, too. I don’t understand it.” Rey said with tears in her eyes. Leia embraced her in her arms and said: “It’s going to be alright. Maybe…” Leia sighed, and Rey sniffed. “Maybe you should think about talking to him. But be careful if you do so, okay?” Rey nodded.

-

“Supreme Leader?” Armitage Hux asked. Kylo Ren stood at the bridge of the new Star Destroyer Superiority and gazed out of the window at the stars. “What is it?” He asked coldly. Hux cleared his throat. “There are rumors that…That there’s a spy.” “A what?” Kylo asked in an alarming tone. “A spy, sir.” The General answered. “Where do these rumors come from?” Hux remained silent for some time. “Secret sources confirmed that the Resistance chose the Scavenger girl and some of her friends to go to the Unknown Regions.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben and Rey finally talk again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I said I would only one chapter per week but I couldn'r resist!   
> Guess I'm going to upload twice a week now, because I feel like one chapter is not enough, they are not that long.   
> I hope you are okay with that! 
> 
> Have fun with the new chapter!

“What secret sources? Can we trust them?” Ren said a bit louder. “Yes, we can. You know that the First Order has eyes and ears everywhere.” “We should go after it, General. Send the Knights of Ren to me, at an instant. You’re dismissed.” “Brilliant, Sir.” Hux said and Kylo went to his quarters.

 

Maybe he would see Rey again… He saw her the last time when she left him on Crait. He called for her again, pushed against her walls. Ben thought that she would resist, hold the walls up. But she didn’t. Within a few seconds, she stood in front of him. Ben was shocked. He wasn’t even able to move.

 

“Ben.” Rey said and tried to smile. But it wouldn’t really work. When Ben tried to talk, all he got out was a gasp. Why did she let him in? “I thought we should…talk. Like we did a year ago.” She told him. “I…wait …Why?” Ben asked. “You were always there. In my head. It didn’t feel right, you know.” “Did I hurt you?” Rey hesitated. “I don’t know. It was exhausting to always hold the mental walls up. And I…Didn’t really want to leave you, you know, back on the Supremacy. I wanted to talk to you, because it helped me at that time. It helped me having someone who is as powerful in the Force as I am. You were always the only one that really understood me…Luke never listened to me back then, and he was even a bit scared of me. But I was afraid that I could tell you something that I shouldn’t.” Rey told him.

 

“I like talking to you, too.” He said and smiled a little. They stayed silent for a few seconds. “But we don’t talk about…You know…First Order and Resistance business, right?” Rey asked a bit shy. “No. We probably shouldn’t talk about that.” He answered, and she shook her head.

 

“It’s weird, isn’t it?” she asked. Kylo looked at her with a puzzled look in the eyes and she said: “That the Force still connects us, I mean. Snoke said that he connected our minds. But he obviously didn’t. He’s dead. What is this?”

-

This question stuck in his head for a while after their conversation. The Force had torn them apart again after she’d finished the sentence. What was this? What were they? He didn’t know an answer to these questions. Maybe he’d never have answers on them, but he realized that he didn’t care as long as Rey was there.

-

Rey sat in her quarters. She was sad and even a bit frustrated that they had no more time to talk. Maybe they could find a way to control their bond to talk longer…

 

But she shouldn’t think about that right now, the young woman had to think about other things. Resistance things. The mission to go to the Unknown Regions was far more important right now.

 

She had completely failed to build another lightsaber or at least to repair Luke’s. She had “borrowed” the sacred Jedi texts from Ahch-To, because she’d feared that Luke would try to destroy them, but she wasn’t able to read them.

 

Rey wasn’t very good at reading in general, she had taught it herself, and the ancient script the books were written in were completely foreign to her. So, she had no weapon except her good old staff and the Force.

 

It was still hard for her to imagine the slavery in the Unknown Regions, she still didn’t want to believe it. The young woman had to see it with her own eyes. Rey asked herself if she’d be able to talk to Kylo again and in the same way in case everything was true.

 

She was ripped out of her thoughts by someone knocking on her door. “Rey? Are you in there?” Finn asked. “Yes, come in.” she answered. She wasn’t really in the mood to talk to someone, but she had to talk with Finn about their mission. “Hey! How are you doing?” Finn asked. “Uhm, I’m fine” Rey said and forced herself to smile. Of course, she wasn’t fine at all.

 

She was afraid of what was expecting her in the Unknown Regions, sad because there could still be slavery there and she was so confused about…Everything.

 

“No, no you’re not. Something is wrong with you. Don’t you want to talk to me, finally?” Finn asked, a bit frustrated. “It’s just…I’m so sad that…” she realized that she had tears in her eyes. Finn walked over and embraced her in his arms. It was good to have him.

 

But Rey knew that she wished it was someone else holding her. After he let go of her and she wiped the tears from her cheeks, she continued to talk. “It’s just so sad for me to think about all the people that could suffer in the Unknown Regions. I can relate to that, you know. On Jakku, I was nothing more than a slave. It makes me angry. I can’t believe that the First Order…That _he_ could do that to someone who has not done anything wrong!” He was stroking her back and said: “Don’t be angry about him. He doesn’t deserve your attention. In any way. That man is just an, sorry for the language, asshole.” Rey gulped.

 

Finn came near her face with his face, and it looked like he was about to kiss her when she brought some distance between them and said: “Let’s change the subject, okay?”

 

Wow, that was awkward. Finn looked her irritated in the eyes but wiped these emotions off his face and nodded. “How’s Rose?” Rey asked. “Oh, she’s recovering. I’m sure Rose is going to be able to work again soon. She’s a strong girl.” The former Stormtrooper answered. “So…You two are…?” “What? Oh, no. We’re just friends. Just friends…” he answered briefly.

 

“Oh. Okay. Well…Let’s talk about the mission. So…We’re starting in like one day and we don’t even know what to expect. I mean, let’s be optimistic. If there’s no slavery, how are we going to move on?” Finn shrugged. “No idea. I still want to fight against the First Order. I know that what Leia says is true. The dark side is not supposed to rule the galaxy.” He said firmly. “What about you?” Rey hesitated. “I think I’ll fight on, too…But I can’t say it right know.” Finn gave her a puzzled look.

 

“Okay…Well I guess the rumors are true, sadly. You know what I was wondering?” Rey shook her head. “Why isn’t Poe coming with us?” “I think they need him here. Poe is the best pilot of the Resistance.” “Only of the Resistance? Of the whole Galaxy! He’s one hell of a pilot!” Finn laughed, and Rey did, too.

-

Kylo Ren lingered in his quarters and was once again sitting in front of Darth Vader’s helmet. After Snoke died, his grandfather had begun to speak with him again. When his former master died, he had felt free for the first time after years.

 

“Grandfather…I don’t know what to do next. I still feel it…The pull to the light. Killing Han Solo didn’t solve the problem, like I tried to tell you before, but you didn’t answer. And now the Resistance probably found out about the slavery thing-I know you wouldn’t like it. I’m aware that you were a slave, too, but it’s necessary. You’d understand it for sure.” It seemed like Vader was telling him something, because Kylo stayed quiet for some time.

 

“I understand. I’ll travel there as fast as I can.” With that, he rose to his feet and went back to the Bridge of the Star Destroyer.

 

“Hux.” “Yes, Supreme Leader!” Hux answered briefly. “Change of plan. Send the Knights of Ren to the Unknown Regions immediately. Tell them to only capture the Jedi but kill her friends. I have to go somewhere else.” He told the General. “Alright. I’ll contact them at an instant. But if I may ask, Supreme Leader…Where are you going? We really need your guidance these days, and I’d like to know when you’ll come back.” The ginger General asked.

 

“Where I go doesn’t matter. I’m going to be back in two days or more. It’ll take some time. This mission is very important and personal to me, General.” “Of course, Supreme Leader. I expect you in two or more days.”

 

Kylo nodded, walked back to his quarters, took something to eat and drink with him and then went to the hangar to his command shuttle.

-

Finn, Rey, Chewie and Lando stood at the ramp of the Millennium Falcon and waved one last time at the rest of the Resistance.

 

After that, they went inside of the Falcon and Chewie and Rey went straight into the cockpit. She heard Finn say: “I never was a fan of these goodbyes. You never know if you’ll see them again.”

 

After a few hours of flying, the friends sat in the back of the Falcon. It already flew in lightspeed and autopilot. After they had played some Dejarik, Rey started to talk with Lando. He seemed a bit sad.

 

“You knew Han, didn’t you?” Lando asked. “Yes. I did. Not for long, but I did. Even if he didn’t seem so at first, he was a kind man. I was there when…Kylo did it.”

 

“I’m sorry for you. Such a sweet girl as you shouldn’t have to see such a horrible thing.” Rey snorted. “I’ve seen a lot of bad things in my life. I’m from Jakku. Nobody cares if you get killed or if you’re alive on that planet. Everything that mattered was your own life. It’s rough.” She said matter-of-factly. “And I’m not sweet.” She added. The old man grinned. “I know. I was just joking. Leia told me where you are from. You’re a tough girl. Jakku was bad for sure, but it made you who you are. Your life is gonna have a happy end certainly.” Rey shrugged. “I don’t believe in happy endings to be honest. Always when my life was good, it turned bad. But that’s fine. I can live with that.” She said a bit bitter.

 

After they were silent for a few moments, Rey asked: “You knew him? Ben?” Lando’s face turned even more sad. “Yes, of course. Han was a close friend of mine. I just saw Ben a few times, but he was a good boy. Shy, but if you talked to him for a while…Well, he had very much in common with his mother. Never wanted to become a Jedi. I think he was a bit too sensitive for that. Now that I think about it, very sensitive. And almost vulnerable, yes. When I talked to Han once, he told me that his son wanted to become a politician, like Leia. Han wasn’t a good father. I guess I saw him more than his wife and son did. But they both hadn’t very much time for that poor kid. But they loved him. Very much. I know it. But I’d never would’ve thought that…Well you know.”

 

When Rey tried to sleep at her cabin in the evening, she thought about Lando’s words. Ben had always had a family, but they never were there for him. He always was alone, like her. She wasn’t lonely anymore, but he still was. Maybe Ben was the loneliest man in the Galaxy. Surrounded by people that would to everything to please him. Ironic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!   
> Actually, I don't know what to think about this chapter. I'm not very happy with it I guess, it seems to me as if nothing really happens...However, I decided to post it because I liked the dialogue between Rey and Ben and between Lando and Rey.   
> But let me know what you think! 
> 
> Anyway, see you next Thursday!


	3. Chapter 3

Back when they’d talked on Ahch-To, he had told Rey that she wasn’t alone, and she had realized (and told him) that he was alone neither.

 

They would always have each other, if they wanted or not. No matter what. The two were bound together for the rest of their lives. She’d been certain about that after Ben had killed Snoke and their minds were still connected.

 

 

Rey wasn’t sure if the tear that glided down her cheek was out of happiness or sadness…Or maybe even because of grief.

 

Suddenly, she felt that the Forcebond was rippling, the air changed around her, and she knew Ben was there. Swiftly, Rey covered herself with her blanket, because she was only wearing a breast band and some shorts at night. She preferred to be always cold enough when she was sleeping, like on Jakku, where the nights were always very cold. Ben ignored her sudden movement and stared in her eyes. Rey grinned a little when she noticed that Ben blushed a bit. Not that she cared a lot. Her body was just a body to her, meant to work and function, only a way to carry the Force. Still, she preferred to stay covered for now.

 

But she didn’t tell him and remained silent. Ben was sitting on a chair or a couch something like that and held some sort of drink in his hand which she didn’t know. He looked tired but handsome, as always.

 

Rey smiled at the thought of familiarity of the way he looked. She knew his features pretty well, she realized. Of course, she loved his long, flawless raven hair which framed his face so perfectly, but she also was well aware his face wasn’t perfect at all, but the young woman realized that she didn’t care. Rey liked his big ears, his large nose and everything that made him less perfect. The Jedi knew that she shouldn’t think that way…But she couldn’t help it.

 

“Why is the Force still connecting us? Snoke is dead.” He asked. “You repeat yourself.” Rey said. He smirked. She liked that Solo-Smirk, too- _“Just stop thinking about things like that. You sound like a little girl. You are not a little girl. You just turned twenty.”_ Rey thought to herself.

 

“You’re right. I’ll do some research about it when I have time, but I’m pretty busy right now, you know.” Ben continued. She snorted.

 

“Of course, Mister Supreme Leader. I’m sorry for interrupting you.” “Stop that.” “Sorry.” “Don’t pretend you’re sorry.” He said, obviously hurt.

 

Rey rolled her eyes. “You’re complicated.” “You too.” “No, I’m not! Stop being such a bitch! I’m…” Ben interrupted her.

 

“No, don’t. We shouldn’t fight. I hate to fight with you. It reminds me of…” Ben stopped talking, but she was well aware that he thought of his parents. Leia had told her once that she and Han had fought all the time, and that may have been one of the many reasons Ben turned to the dark side. Rey thought it could also be the reason why he was afraid of attachments.

 

Rey immediately regretted her words. “Oh Ben…I’m so sorry…I didn’t mean it.” He sighed. “Don’t be. I’m overacting. Let’s talk about something else, okay?” Rey nodded.

 

“Yeah. We’re probably both not the best at things like that.” Ben raised an eyebrow. “At things like what?” he asked curiously. “Talking, probably? Yeah, talking to people, I guess. We’re both not very good at it.” “I guess you’re right. I always was…I don’t know. Awkward? Maybe that’s the right word. Socially awkward. Force, this sounds so wrong. I’m the Supreme Leader of the kriffing First Order and I hate talking or being around people. That’s just…Odd.” He snorted, she laughed, and he was amazed by seeing her laughing for the first time in his life.

 

“Maybe being a politician wouldn’t have been the right job for you. It’s almost the same thing.” Ben probably asked himself how Rey knew that he’d always wanted to be a politician, but he didn’t comment on it. “Yeah, I just always wanted to change things. I don’t like talking, I prefer to really change things.”

 

“Maybe that’s something that we have in common.” Rey said and smiled.

 

“What are you drinking?” She asked to change the subject. “Corellian Whiskey.” He replied. When he noticed her puzzled look, he said: “Alcohol.” Ben always forgot that she was from a desert planet and probably had been grateful for anything eatable. He would love to see her eat one day. _“Weird, weird thought. This is going in a very wrong direction. Think of something else”_ he reminded himself.

 

“Of course.” she said, grimaced, and he didn’t even know what she talked about for a moment, because he’d been lost in thought…

 

“It’s unhealthy.” She added. “I know.” “You don’t care?” “Exactly.” Rey sighed. “I care.” He cocked his head. “Well, that’s something new. Two years or so ago, you almost sliced my head in two halves and desperately wanted to kill me.” Ben said curiously. “Things changed.” She replied. “Obviously.” He said and was gone with another Solo trademark smirk.

-

After Kylo had poured his drink away, he changed into his sleeping clothes, a black T-Shirt and black boxer shorts. After he had checked the coordinates, he slipped under his blanket and closed his eyes.

 

He hadn’t slept in days, and he also didn’t expect to get very much sleep today, Kylo was just too excited. But he at least hoped for some rest until he would arrive at Mustafar tomorrow.

-

Rey laid down again and fell asleep with a little smile on her face, just as Ben did.

-

Kylo woke up as his vessel began to land on Mustafar. He hurried to get into the ‘fresher, took a shower and put on his usual clothes.

 

When the shuttle finally landed, Kylo immediately strode down the ramp of his ship. Within a few seconds, a cruel heat hit him right in the face. Kylo’s outfit was way too thick and had way too many layers for this kriffing hot planet. After a few seconds, sweat already ran down his spine and forehead.

 

He decided to take the many layers of his usual costume off until only a black T-Shirt and his usual trousers were left.

 

Still too hot, but better. He walked out of his shuttle again and inspected his surroundings with his gaze.

 

It was perfectly quiet on Mustafar. Almost scary. But he was Kylo Ren, he was never scared.

 

Kylo knew that his grandfather used to live here in his castle. But somehow, he knew that he wasn’t here for an ancient building.

 

Kylo Ren was on Mustafar to visit the place where Anakin Skywalker died, and Darth Vader was born.

 

The Force guided his steps towards a dark cave. The dark side of the Force was strong on the lava world and Kylo felt like he could almost touch it with his now bare hands. When Kylo stepped into the cave, ignited his unstable red lightsaber so he could see the inside of the cave. It helped a bit, but it was still very dark.

 

However, it was bright enough for him to see that this was no cave, but a tunnel. Carefully, Kylo went forward. The tunnel wasn’t very deep. After a few steps he reached the end of it, wiped sweat from his forehead and stepped out of the tunnel.

 

He instantly stood in front of a huge lava stream.

 

Suddenly, he heard the familiar sound of two lightsabers crashing against each other and turned around in horror, fearing that someone would attack him and clenched his fist tighter around his already activated Lightsaber.

 

Two men were fighting on top of something he couldn’t quite recognize, wreckage or something like that, floating on the lava. They were coming close.

 

Kylo was ready to fight.

 

He eyed the two men. One of them was obviously the younger one. His hair was as long as Kylo’s. The other, older man was clearly a Jedi, he wore a Jedi robe, Kylo also noticed a beard on his face. But how could that be?

 

As much as he knew, Rey was the only Jedi left, and she hadn’t even finished her training, so she technically not even a real Jedi.

 

What Kylo really amazed was the fact that they both fought with blue lightsabers. Not only the older man. They didn’t look like they were training. Besides, why would they train here on Mustafar?

 

Suddenly, the Jedi jumped from the platform on top of a small hill. He yelled something at the younger man, and he screamed something like “You underestimate…” but Kylo wasn’t really able to understand what he was saying.

 

He also noticed that the two were strangely blurred, edged with blue and translucent, almost like Force-Ghosts…Kylo raised his eyebrows in wonder.

 

_What if they weren’t really there?_

 

He was ripped out of his thoughts as the man with long hair jumped. Kylo gasped in horror when the Jedi separated all the young man’s limbs from his body. All except one arm, and Ben realized that this arm was already mechanical.

 

Kylo didn’t really know what to do, but walked a few steps forward, to be able to hear what the two were saying.

 

“You were the chosen one!” The older man said. “It was said that you would destroy the Sith, not join them! Bring balance to the Force, not leave it in darkness!” Kylo gasped again.

 

Was that who he thought he was?

 

“I hate you!” the young man screamed. “You were my brother, Anakin! I loved you.” The older man replied, ignoring the obvious suffering of the other man.

 

Kylo sank to his knees. He realized that the man who just lost his limbs was his grandfather Anakin Skywalker, and the other man was Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin’s former master.

 

When his grandfather caught fire, he had to close his eyes. This was too much. Nobody ever told him how his grandfather became Darth Vader, and now he knew why his family never did.

 

This was way too cruel for a child. The only thing his family ever told him about Anakin Skywalker was, that he was a Jedi before he became Darth Vader, and that Luke had killed him at the end.

 

Luke had never talked about it, neither had Leia, only Han had told him the tragic story of his grandfather. Not too many details, of course, and not without bitching about the Force and the consequences of using it.

 

The vision faded, and Kylo was left alone with the knowledge of what had happened to his grandfather.

 

He clenched his fists. It was Obi-Wan’s fault that Anakin Skywalker became evil.

 

As much as Snoke had told him, the Jedi wanted to rule the galaxy by manipulating the others.

 

Someone cleared his throat behind him.

 

He ignited his lightsaber once again and turned around, slowly. Someone stood in front of him. The figure was clearly a Force ghost. Kylo recognized the young man. It was Anakin Skywalker.

 

His grandfather smiled sadly.

 

“Hello, Grandson.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!  
> I will upload a new chapter on Sundays and Thursdays.   
> Let me know what you think about this chapter!


	4. Chapter 4

Rey awoke early the next morning.

 

She stayed in her more or less soft bed in the Falcon for a few more minutes. After some time, she sighed, sat up in her bed and yawned.

 

The young woman realized that she hadn’t slept that well in weeks.

 

Maybe it was because she didn’t have to keep her mental walls up, and because she could feel Ben’s soothing presence in the Force. The Jedi reached out to him, trying to feel what he was feeling, and frowned.

 

Obviously, he was upset, sad, probably a bit angry and confused…It was almost normal for him to have that many emotions at the same time.

 

But these worried her. She tried to reach him. _“Ben?”_ she asked, but he didn’t answer. He was either busy, or in real danger. She could only hope that he wasn’t in danger. What was she supposed to do?

-

“Grandfather?” Kylo asked stunned.

 

“Yes, I think so.” Anakin said and smiled. “I still can’t believe I’m a grandfather. Not to mention a father…”

 

“Did you guide me here? Did you show me the vision?” Kylo asked. “I did.” “Why?”

 

“I wanted to show you how I became Darth Vader. I was aware you didn’t know that.” Kylo nodded.

 

“But why…” His grandfather interrupted him. “I know what you think. But you’re wrong. It wasn’t Obi-Wan’s fault. It was mine.”

 

“But the Jedi wanted to gain control about the galaxy and you only wanted to stop them, you wanted to bring order to the galaxy, and I want just the same. We’re very much alike.” Ben said.

 

Anakin only snorted. “I completely agree. We’re very similar. But except from that – Every word in that sentence was wrong.” “Huh?” Anakin laughed. “I’m going to explain it to you. Listen.”

-

Rey was back in the cockpit of the Falcon. She and Chewie were already able to see the planet they were flying to.

 

The planet was covered completely by water. Almost like Ahch-To, only that Rey couldn’t see one island.

 

“There can’t be any inhabitants here. The planet is completely covered by water.” Rey said in bewilderment.

 

Lando stood right next to her seat. “Leia told me the spy said that the residents live subterranean. We have to fly around the planet to find a small island or something like that. On that island should be a way further down to the core of the planet.”

 

Rey nodded. “But we have to be careful. I’m sure it’s going to be guarded by Stormtroopers, we have to take them out carefully, so no one’ll notice us.” She said.

 

The others nodded and fell silent again.

 

After they had flown around the planet for a couple minutes, Finn said, exited: “Look! Down there! I see something!”

 

He pointed to a very, very small island, just tall enough for the Falcon to land on and a little shelter with two Stormtroopers positioned outside.

 

“Okay, how do we do this without alarming more Troopers than those two?” Lando asked.

 

Rey thought for a minute. “Chewie, let the ramp down. I’ll abseil myself and take those two down. After that, you can land the Falcon.” She said determinant.

 

“What? No, I’ll go with you.” Finn disagreed. “I can handle two stupid Stormtroopers. Chewie, let the ramp down.” Rey said stubbornly.

 

Chewie obeyed, and Rey picked up a rope. She attached the rope, took a deep breath and slid down.

 

Rey debarked on the roof of the improvised shelter. She took her blaster, and shot the Stormtroopers, short and sweet.

 

After that was done, the young woman jumped down and opened the door, carefully, to check if there were more guards. There were none.

 

She waved up to the Falcon to symbolize that everything was clear. That was easy. Maybe too easy.

-

Kylo held his breath and tried not to blink too much, to not miss a thing. His grandfather began to talk.

 

“You know about my wife, your grandmother, Padmé, right?” Anakin asked. Kylo nodded.

 

“Good. Well, as you may know, I loved her very much. More than anything in this whole Galaxy. We married, secretly. As you know, attachments are forbidden for the Jedi, but I didn’t care about that, honestly. I would have given up everything up for her, even being a Jedi. When she told me that she was pregnant, it was the best moment of my life. I was…Happy. Even though nobody could know. But then everything went south.

 

“Everything began with me having nightmares, or visions, of Padmé dying during childbirth. I was so scared, I was horrified, and I didn’t know what to do. When chancellor Palpatine told me about Darth Plagueis the wise, and how he could protect the ones he loved from death, I thought that was the perfect solution for me and my family. But, of course, Darth Plagueis was a Sith. To keep it short, I wanted to become a Sith, too, just to save the love of my life and I became the apprentice of Darth Sidious, also known as Emperor Palpatine. Stupid, you may think, but wouldn’t you do something like that for someone you love?”

 

Kylo thought about it. Who did he care so much about, that he would give up everything for that person to keep him or her alive?

 

The first person he thought about was Rey. Would he do this for her? Of course, he was already a Darksider, but if he wasn’t, would he become one? The answer was easy.

 

Yes. 

 

Realizing that, Ben was lightly shocked. 

 

Anakin smiled. “See? I did it for her. Because I loved her. And in the end, I killed her myself. Or maybe I didn’t. She died because the will to live left her…But I choked her on Mustafar. Before I fought Obi-Wan. I choked a pregnant woman, Ben. She died because of me. If I killed her with my own hands or not doesn’t matter.”

 

Kylo gulped. “Ironic, Rey was the first one you thought about. Didn’t you want to kill her desperately one year ago?” Anakin asked curiously.

 

To his surprise, Ben shook his head.

 

“I never wanted to kill her. I wanted to teach her, yes. Rey wanted to kill me. And I guess she still wants to, not that I care much.”

 

Anakin raised an eyebrow. That was a lie, and Ben knew that, too.

 

“However, what I am trying to say is, don’t become a second Darth Vader. You don’t want to be that. It’s terrible. And by the way, Luke didn’t kill me, it was my master. Luke always wanted to save me. And he somehow succeeded. I wanted to go with him, but I died before I could. I was seriously injured by Force lightning and I couldn’t make it. I don’t want the same thing to happen to you.”

 

“And throw my old helmet away. You don’t need it anymore.”

 

With that, Anakin left Ben.

- 

Her friends landed on the island and walked out of the Falcon. “That was easy. Let’s hope it’ll be as easy down there, too.” Finn said.

 

“It was easy, yes. Too easy. Be careful.” Rey said thoughtfully.

 

“Then let’s be careful.” Lando said. “Chewie, please stay here with the Falcon. We may need someone to take us out of here as fast as possible.” The ex-scavenger told the Wookie.

 

He murmured something in Shyriiwook and walked back into the Falcon.

 

“Are you sure he shouldn’t come with us? We could use some help…” Finn said.

 

“No, he should stay back. I have a bad feeling about this…” Rey replied.

 

Lando smirked and said “Come on. Let’s go. Blasters at the ready?” Rey went ahead and opened the door again.

 

A long stairway was leading down to the core of the planet, and they were not able to see how long it was.

 

“Okay. Let’s go.” Rey started to walk down, and the others followed. It let them down deeper and deeper, it seemed to be a never-ending way further down.

 

After some time, they finally could see light. Rey increased the speed of her paces and almost fell down the stairs, but Finn was able to catch her on one arm.

 

She smiled at him thankfully and went forward more slowly. Just a few more stairs.

 

When she’d almost reached the last stair, she reached out with the Force to check if there were more guards. To her astonishment, there were none.

 

Would the First Order be that stupid and think that the locals couldn’t take out two Stormtroopers, even if they had blasters?

 

Well, it seemed like there was no way to flee from this planet, but Rey was almost sure that there was an opening for ships to fly out.

 

They hid behind some tall boxes and Rey whispered to her friends: “This is way too easy! It has to be a trap, there is no way the First Order would leave everything this unguarded, and-” She noticed that they weren’t listening to her.

 

Finn and Lando were staring at something, so she turned around and looked at her surroundings, too.

 

This place was huge. Next to a few decrepit houses out of stone and with roofs of mud, there were huge assembly lines and machineries Rey didn’t know.

 

In the back of the cave, Rey could spot some fields, but she didn’t know what they’d plant on them, without sun. It was dark and cold and damp.

 

A drop of water fell on her nose, she wiped it off and shivered a bit. She still wasn’t used to cold places like that.

 

This definitely didn’t seem like a good place to work, but they couldn’t prove that.

 

Because there was no one there.

 

Suddenly, they heard a noise next to them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, thank you so much for reading!   
> I hope you enjoyed the new chapter, let me know what you think!


	5. Chapter 5

Suddenly, they heard a noise next to them.

 

When Finn turned in the direction of the noise, blaster at the ready, he didn’t see a Stormtrooper, but a little child.

 

At least it seemed like one. He had never seen a creature like that.

 

It was covered in golden fur, looked at him with large blue eyes, was small and almost reminded him of a Wookie, just that Wookies were way taller, even when they were very young.

 

It seemed scared and was obviously also hiding from someone, because it was crouching behind another chest.

 

Rey and Lando had also noticed the little creature.

 

“We should help him!” Rey said. “What if it’s dangerous?” Lando asked. Rey looked at him, incredulous.

 

“Look at it! Do you really think it’s dangerous?” she replied and tiptoed across to the little…alien.

 

“Hey! Do you speak Basic?” she whispered. He nodded a bit shy. “What’s your name?”

 

“I’m…I’m Myn.” The little guy answered. “Hello, Myn. I’m Rey. Where’s your family?” she asked.

 

“They…They had to hide! The evil people told them so, and my mum told me to hide…Everybody is gone! They left me!” he said while tears started to fill his eyes.

 

“Don’t cry. Everything is going to be alright. Do you know why they had to hide?” Myn sniffed and answered: “They didn’t tell us, but I heard them say that they waited for someone and…” that was everything Rey had to hear.

 

“It’s a trap! It’s a trap!” She yelled across to Finn and Lando, when Stormtroopers started to run towards them out of corners and houses - From everywhere.

 

“Take him and leave!” Rey called out, picked up Myn and handed him over to Finn, luckily, the child was small and lightweight.

 

“What? No! We aren’t going to leave you here!” Finn yelled. “Just run! They came here because of me, they won't kill me! We have what we wanted, tell the Resistance what you know! Now run! Go!” She screamed.

 

Lando obeyed and dragged Finn towards the exit. She didn’t think much and stopped every blaster shot that came towards her friends.

 

She was right. The Troopers weren’t supposed to kill her. They had been told to capture her. Alive.

-

Ben found himself crouching on the warm ground of Mustafar.

 

Was this real? Was he dreaming? Did his grandfather really just talk to him as a Force Ghost?

 

Maybe, but this wasn’t even the most shocking thing that had happened - Anakin Skywalker had just crushed his whole conception of the galaxy. Everything Kylo Ren ever did was to finish what his grandfather had started. There was no reason for anything anymore.

 

He also just realized that Rey, the scavenger, the Jedi was the most important person in his life. That he would do everything to keep her alive.

 

Everything was going too fast. Way too fast. Just a year and a half ago, he had been so sure that what he was doing was the right thing to do.

 

He wasn’t so sure about that anymore.

 

What next? Run to Rey and tell her that she was the most important thing in the galaxy to him, join the Resistance again and everything was going to be fine? Happy end?

 

No, it wasn’t that easy. It wasn’t.

 

Kylo Ren still was the Supreme Leader of the First Order. He couldn’t leave all of this behind, there still had to be an order in the galaxy.

 

With a New Republic, everything would be plunged into chaos. He couldn’t let that happen.

 

Besides, if he would just leave the First Order, some other jerk would become the new Supreme Leader, probably Hux. And there was no way he was going to let that happen.

 

No, no way. There had to be a middle course, but he still had to figure out what that middle course was.

-

Rey tried to fight the Stormtroopers for a while, but it was useless. They were to many, and she didn’t even have a lightsaber, just a stupid blaster, which she hated to use.

 

There was no way out, and she wondered if Ben was the one who ordered the attack.

 

Was he here? Maybe she could convince him somehow to come with her…Just maybe.

 

Even tough Rey didn’t really believe that. The man could be so goddamn stubborn.

 

The Stormtroopers had pushed her in a corner, and all she could do was surrender.

 

“Blaster down!” One of them screamed at her, obviously scared, her voice was trembling.

 

She obeyed and dropped it on the ground. “Hands up so I can see them!” Rey did as she was told. She could use the Force, but it was useless. There would be new Stormtroopers coming for her.

 

“Hand me the cuffs.” The female Stormtrooper told another.

 

As her hands were cuffed, the same trooper pulled out her comm and said: “Captain? We have her cuffed. What next?” “Excellent. Bring her to the ship.” Another cold female voice answered.

 

The last thing Rey saw until everything around her turned black was a blaster pointed towards her.

-

Kylo was back on his shuttle and immediately tried to contact the Superiority.

 

When he’d tried to reach someone for a few times and hadn't received an answer, he began to worry if something bad occurred while the Supreme Leader was away.

 

Suddenly, he heard a scream. And another. A searing pain rushed through his body and he slumped down once again. The screams are so loud that they made his eardrums quiver, and he tried to stop it by protecting his ears with his hands.

 

Kylo knew it was senseless, the screams were in his head, not on Mustafar.

 

Tears began to burn in his eyes, because of the pain, and because of grief.

 

Two of his Knights had just died.

-

Rey awoke in a dark cell, hands cuffed. They obviously wanted to make absolutely sure she wouldn’t manage to escape.

 

Some light fell into the dark cell through iron bars. Except that, the cell was only illuminated by a little lamp on the wall. How grateful.

 

What did they think? ‘If there’s no light, she won’t be able to see the Force’ or what? She rolled her eyes.

 

Rey stepped forward to look through the bars. Only one Stormtrooper stood outside.

 

Would they really be that stupid and make the same mistakes again as they did on Starkiller Base?

 

She frowned. Obviously, if Ben would have given the order to capture her, he would have told his troops to give her no chance of having contact with a Stormtrooper. And he would’ve told his troops to cuff her with Force binders. Maybe he would have guarded her himself.

 

She was almost sure they had acted without asking their Supreme Leader first. That made her wonder: What had happened to him?

 

But know, the most important thing was to escape. After that, she could think further.

 

“Hey!” she whispered to catch the Stormtrooper’s attention. “What?” he asked and tried to cover up his fear with being snotty.

 

Rey’s gaze grew glassy. “You will open this door, hand me the blaster and open my cuffs.” She had to repeat the order once again before the Stormtrooper obeyed, Rey had to practice this.

 

The young woman picked up the weapon as the Stormtrooper dropped on the floor instead of handing it to her.

 

The former Scavenger was lucky. She had been brought onto a small vessel, there were only a few Stormtroopers and a pilot. It was no big deal to take them out, and she wondered if they always were that careless with Force-sensitives.

 

Maybe they just didn’t know enough about people like her and Ben.

 

But now, she had to fly back to Numidian Prime.

-

Kylo ignited his lightsaber once again and felt the need to destroy something. Blinding anger made his vision blurry.

 

But he couldn’t destroy anything of the expensive equipment in his shuttle or he'd not be able to get off planet, and that made him even more angry.

 

Ben took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down. He clenched his fist around his lightsaber. _“_

 

_Calm down. You have to calm down.”_ Ben told himself. _“There is an explanation for this. I’m sure.”_

 

He turned his lightsaber back off again and hurried into the cockpit.

 

Kylo felt like he hadn’t flown that fast for a long time.

 

Was this a mutiny arranged by Hux? The General could never kill one of his Knights. He was way too weak for that. At least that was what Kylo hoped.

 

Maybe they died while fighting the Resistance…But four Resistance fighters wouldn’t have been a challenge for them. The only one who would ever be a threat to them was Rey.

 

Luckily, he had ordered Hux to tell his Knights to capture, not kill her. If Hux was smart enough, he had sent Stormtroopers with them, so she had no chance to beat the Knights of Ren.

 

Even though he doubted Rey could beat all six of his well-trained Knights, but the girl was capable of things he would never dream of. However, he had to get back to the Superiority as soon as possible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!  
> I'm sorry that I didn't manage to upload a new chapter yesterday!Next time, I'll let you know if I can't post on the regular day. However, I'll post the next chapter on Sunday as always.   
> Let me know what you think about this chapter! Personally, I'm very happy with it.  
> See you on Sunday!


	6. Chapter 6

He wished he still had his mask, so he could slam it back on, because he knew that all his emotions were mirrored on his face. Fear, anger, grief, black despair and also a bit confusion…Emotions none of his underlings should see, because these feelings were weakness.

 

Kylo arrived at the Superiority, mind clouded with grief.

 

Because of that, he didn’t see the blackout coming.

-

From the First Order vessel she was piloting, Rey tried to comm’ the Resistance when she saw Numidian Prime. After a few tries, she managed to reach someone.

 

“Hello? Is there someone? It’s me, Rey!” she said desperately. “Rey! It’s you! I’m so glad you’re save.” Connix answered excitedly.

“Yeah, can I get the permission to land? I’m in a First Order vessel, just so you know.” Rey said happily. “Yes, you can land whenever you’re ready.” Rey smiled and began her landing approach.

 

Almost immediately as she lowered the ramp, Finn ran towards her and embraced her in a tight hug. “You’re safe! Thank the Maker, really. Did they hurt you or anything?” he asked, obviously worried. “No, they didn’t have the chance to. They tried to lock me in a cell and failed miserably, as you can see. It was easy to flee. They made the same mistake as on Starkiller Base.” Finn smiled, and she did, too.

 

But after a few seconds, she grew serious again. “I have to go see General Organa. Where is she?” “In her quarters, I guess.” Finn replied.

 

Rey nodded. She had to talk to the General about her son.

She didn’t know if Ben had done something horrible once again, or if he was in danger, but she had to find out.

-

Ben woke up in a dark cell, hands cuffed, and feet tied together with ropes. It was almost impossible to move, and the cuffs they had used on him where force-cuffs, which was a very odd feeling. The Force was blocked out of his body.

 

“Hey! Is someone out there? Do you know who you just knocked out? You’re going to regret doing this as soon as I get out of here. Open the door and these Forceforsaken cuffs and it will be a whole lot less painful!” he yelled.

 

Someone outside laughed, and it made him even more angry, because he knew exactly who that laugh belonged to.

 

“Hux! Get in this cell, now! Don’t be a kriffing coward. You know I can kill you without the Force, with my bare hands, you weakling, so let’s make this easy.” Kylo provoked aggressively.

 

The door opened wide with a loud bang. Kylo’s provocation had obviously worked.

 

“I wonder how you want to kill me with your bare hands, when they are cuffed with force-binders. You’re nothing without your precious Force, maybe not even with the Force. You didn’t even see it coming that someone was about to stun you.” Kylo snorted.

 

“Not so loud-mouthed anymore, Ren? Is your brain that little? Well, I should have expected that. You were never the smartest, the lapdog of Supreme Leader Snoke – until you killed him for that Jedi slut.”

 

“Don’t you dare call her that!” Kylo yelled, losing his temper. He tried to kick the General, but he was still not able to move, thanks to the cuffs. “Also, I didn’t kill Snoke, she did!”

 

“I can call her whatever I want. And of course, you two killed him together. How could a dirty scavenger kill Snoke, the whole Praetorian guard and knock you out? You helped her, I saw the footage of the elevator. It didn’t seem like you two were enemies, more like lovers. How sweet…” Hux said with an evil grin and Ben gritted his teeth.

 

“You’re a filthy traitor, you killed the Supreme Leader. It’s high treason. Ironic, isn’t it? Now you’re no better than FN-2187, the rebel scum…”

 

“Great. How did you manage to kill two of my knights? You couldn’t have done it. You’re not strong enough. Who did it? Rey?” The ginger General grinned evilly, once again.

 

“She didn’t have the chance to do so. I ordered the Knights to come to the Superiority, just a few minutes after you left. Two of them, well, they didn’t agree to the terms of ruling the galaxy with me. The ones who are left are loyal to me, Ren. They want to rule, they don’t want to be overqualified bodyguards. So, after you’re gone, they will rule next to me.”

 

Kylo’s face got even more pale than it already was. “You’re lying.”

 

Hux grinned. “Bad for you, but I’m not. Sadly, I will have to leave you now, Supreme Leader business, you know. Enjoy your stay, believe me, it won’t be for long. Have fun pitying yourself.”

 

“Fuck you.”

 

“How rude.” Hux said and left the cell.

-

 

While going to the General’s quarters, Rey probed the Force bond again and searched for his Force-signature. She could only sense it very numb, as if he was shut off from the Force. She was aware that Ben would never do that himself. Luke, yes. Ben, no.

 

“Ben?” she said trough the bond, so that only she and Ben would hear it.

 

He didn’t answer.

 

Rey knocked on the door to Leia’s office. “Yes? Come in, please.” The General answered.

 

Leia sat on a chair in front of her desk and had skipped through her holopad until Rey had knocked on her door.

 

She rose to her feet immediately as she saw Rey and said: “Rey! You’re back! We…I was so worried. Finn told me what happened and I – What is wrong?” her motherly instinct kicked in and Leia frowned.

 

“Something is wrong with Ben. I have to go help him.” Leia nodded. “How do you know that?” “Through the bond. I feel it.”

 

“Okay. What are we going to do?” Leia said, more to herself than to Rey. “We have to think of a plan.” She said. “We don’t have that long!” Rey said desperately. “What if they plan to execute him?” “Well Rey, we can’t just fly wherever the Superiority is right now without a plan. It would be a suicide run. I can’t do that, it’s too high a risk, image how many people we’d lose.” The General explained, matter-of-factly.

 

How was she able to stay so calm? Her own son was probably in mortal danger. Maybe she was just very good at hiding her fear, Rey thought. However, Rey wasn’t able to stay as calm as her General.

 

“This is why I hate politics, it’s always just talking, not doing!” she said and clenched her fists.

 

Leia raised her eyebrows. “Rey – this is not about politics. It’s about our safety. It makes no sense if fifty people die just to safe one person, even if this person is very important to you…us.” Rey snorted and stayed silent, because she knew that Leia was right.

 

Why did she even want to save Ben?

 

It would be better for the Galaxy if he died today, or at least it would be for the Resistance, and all the people she cared about. What would happen if he was executed? Someone else would take his place, and it probably wouldn’t make a big difference. Maybe it would even get worse, if someone like Hux would become the next Supreme Leader, and a lot of planets were dependent on the First Order.

 

And besides all that, what would happen to her? They were bonded by the Force.

 

Especially at moments like these, she needed Luke or anyone as powerful in the Force as she was. Of course, Leia had the Force, too, but she wasn’t nearly as powerful as she or Luke or…Well, Ben. But she couldn’t ask him, not right now, because he was obviously blocked out from the Force, and, as she assumed, nor could she ask him that on any other occasions. She should have researched earlier, but now it was too late.

 

Rey had to act, or something horrible would happen.

 

She was ripped out of her thoughts by the General.

 

“Rey? Are you listening to me?”

 

“No…I’m sorry, I was lost in thought. What did you say?” “I said that you shouldn’t do something reckless now. Don’t do anything alone. We can’t lose you right now.” Leia said seriously, as if she had read Rey’s thoughts. “No, General. When will we have a meeting?” “As soon as possible, Rey.” “Right now?” “Fine. Tell the others to come to our meeting room, please.” Rey nodded eagerly and hurried to tell the others about Leia’s order.

 

A few minutes later, the Resistance gathered together in the meeting room and Leia stood at the front, as always.

 

“Again, I know this meeting is very sudden, but this is a very urgent matter.” Leia said. “As the most of you may know, Ben Solo, my son, turned to the dark side years ago. Most of you may now him as Kylo Ren…I prefer to call him Ben, to be honest. As Rey told me, Ben is in mortal danger and needs help. As you know, he is the Supreme Leader of the First Order, and that’s probably why you won’t understand why we should help him. Well, Rey and I are very sure that he still can be turned, and if he turns, the information he’d give us is extremely interesting to us. I decided that we should vote if we should go and help him.” Rey was shocked.

 

This could possibly not turn out well for her – and Ben if she and Leia couldn’t convince the rest of the Resistance.

 

The people began to murmur, and someone yelled: “How do we know that he really is in danger?” “Rey and Ben are bonded by the Force. She senses if he is in danger.”

 

“How do we know that she isn’t the spy?” someone else yelled and the people turned their heads towards Rey.

 

“Excuse me?” Leia asked, and Rey tried to stay calm, sitting in the back of the room as the people began to murmur again. Leia collected herself again. “We can of course trust her.

 

“The only thing Rey wants is to safe the Resistance and Ben Solo. Let’s be honest, we don’t stand a chance against the First Order without more information. Ben could give us the intel we need to show the galaxy the truth of the First Order. Yes, we have witnesses that prove slavery is still existing in the Unknown Regions, but that’s not enough, and besides that, Rey, Finn and the others haven’t even seen it with their own eyes – We only have Myn to prove it. So, we would need someone like Ben to prove it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!  
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter, let me know what you think!  
> See you next Thursday!


	7. Chapter 7

“Why should he talk? He is the Supreme Leader of the First Order! None of us would tell the Order anything about Resistance business.” A young woman yelled.

 

“He will talk. I know him.” Rey said calmly.

 

“How do you know him?” The same young woman asked suspiciously, and the people began to whisper again.

 

Rey raised from her chair. “That…That doesn’t matter. It really doesn’t.

 

“All you need to know is that you can trust me. I won’t fall for the dark side as Ben did. I’m sure that he can be turned, I saw it in his mind. It would be too complicated to explain, but I saw it. I know that he did horrible things to you, your friends and your family, he did horrible things to me too, and I understand why you would not want to save him. But I need you to know that he still is worth saving. First, of course, because he would help us defeat the First Order, and second, because he deserves a second chance. His mind was invaded by Snoke when Ben Solo was extremely young. He never stood a chance against him.”

 

“Thank you, Rey. We will continue with the voting now. Okay, so, if you want to go and save Ben Solo, please raise your hands now.” Leia said with a worried look in her eyes.

 

Shockingly few people raised their hands, of course including Rey.

 

“Okay…Now please, if you’re against saving him, raise your hand now.” Leia said, with a slightly shaky voice.

 

Almost everybody raised their hand.

 

Rey clenched her fists to stay calm and decided that it would be better for her to leave the room right now.

 

So, she had to do it alone. Someone had to rescue him.

 

Back in her room, she slammed the door shut. After she had tried to reach out to him, inefficiently, she packed the few things she possessed in a little bag and left a short note for Finn and the others, because she felt bad about leaving without saying a word.

 

_Dear Finn, who’ll probably read this first,_  
_I know what you think right now. ‘Did she really leave us once again, just to rescue that monster? She’s going to fail miserably once again!’ and that could be correct, but I have to go to him. I just can’t let him die, Ben doesn’t deserve that. Or maybe he does, after all the things he’s done to you, and the other innocent people…But I can’t help it._  
_I’m sorry I didn’t tell it to your earlier, but Ben and I are bonded through the Force. I’m really in a hurry right now, so I can’t explain it any further and you probably wouldn’t understand it either (neither do I)._  
_And please do me a favor – don’t follow me (not that you could track me, but whatever…). It’s way too dangerous, and as Leia said, we can’t afford losing more people. Because of that, I’m going on my own._  
_We’ll see each other again, soon (hopefully in the company of Ben)._

_Rey_

 

She read the note again, just to see if she wrote everything she wanted to. A tear rolled down her cheek and dropped on the piece of paper. She sniffed and cursed under her breath.

 

Maybe she would not return. It was possible, but she didn’t allow herself to think about it any further. Don’t look back.

 

She decided to leave the next morning, before anyone was awake.

-

Kylo was still in his cell, hands and feet cuffed. He had no idea what Hux planned next, but what he knew was that he had been betrayed by his knights, the only people he trusted, next to Rey.

 

“There has to be a solution for that! I have to get out of here, somehow.” He thought and closed his eyes to center himself again. It wasn’t easy without the Force, it was way easier to stay calm with it flowing in his veins, but Kylo somehow managed it. He had to think of a way out of this miserable situation.

 

“Hux!” he called out again.

 

“The new Supreme Leader isn’t here, Ren. Stay quiet in there, or you will regret it.” Someone said with a cold voice.

 

Thraken. One of his (former) knights.

 

Thraken was from Chandrila, just like Ben.

 

They had known each other as children, he was the only one Kylo would have considered a friend when he’d been a child.

 

They grew up together and Ben had liked him, because the two were pretty much alike, only that Thraken had been the extrovert one, convincing Ben to do something stupid from time to time. Just as children did.

 

Thraken hadn’t been shy and awkward as Ben, the other children on Chandrila had always liked him, especially the girls.

 

While Ben had always been the strange, quiet boy with the big ears and strange face, Thraken had been the funny, feisty, popular boy with blond hair and pretty, large green eyes.

 

Well, Ben never liked being around people. His parents weren’t home very much, and he’d always been around nannies – droids – and spent most of his time reading and writing, and with calligraphy, alone. That was just the way he’d preferred it.

 

And when his parents had forced him to go out for some time to play with the other children, they made fun about his ears, the limbs that were to long for the rest of his body and his ‘magic power’, the Force.

 

The others never believed him that he had the Force, because Ben couldn’t show it to them, since he wasn’t able to control it yet.

 

Thraken also had been different, and him and Ben had gotten along very well. That was because he had the Force, too, and he knew that Ben was Force sensitive, like him.

 

So, they had played together.

 

He remembered how Thraken had defeated him more than once, as the other children had mocked him.

 

-Flashback-

 

Ben had been sent out by his mother once again, because he hadn’t been outside in days. She was probably about to fight with his father again, like they always did when the two were together.

 

His father and mother were both on Chandrila, exceptionally.

 

Sometimes, only one of them was at home, but usually neither Han or Leia were there. Ben hated it, because he really needed them to talk to, and he always missed them very badly when they were gone.

 

Not that Ben would tell them what the other children were saying, it wouldn’t change anything anyway.

 

He walked down the street, lost in thought, when a boy from the neighborhood stopped him.

 

“Hey, Solo!” the boy yelled. “What do you want?” Ben asked a bit snippy, because he already knew what the boy wanted.

 

He always mocked Ben, together with his friends, and the young Solo was surprised that the boy was on his own.

 

“You better shut your mouth, weirdo. You probably think way too much of yourself, because you’re the son of great Leia Organa and Han Solo.” The other boy said aggressively.

 

“That’s not true.” Ben said and clenched his fists.

 

“Of course, it’s true! You tell everyone that you have this ‘Force’, just so they give you more attention, that’s what my dad says.”

 

Ben knew that this boy just wanted him to say something rude, so he could beat Ben up for it.

 

“I never told you that I have the Force, but your parents did, because they work with my mother, and they probably don’t like her. So, they told you mean lies about me.” Ben answered.

 

“And you should be very careful about what you say, because if I tell my mum what your parents say about me, they’ll lose their job.”  
That probably was what the boy had waited for, because he tried to hit Ben in the stomach.

 

But an invisible wall stopped him.

 

Other children came running towards him, as if they’d just waited for Ben to become angry.

 

That was probably really what they’d waited for.

 

They tried to kick and hit him, but Ben stretched out his hands in front of him and pushed them all away, with one strong Force-blow.

 

They all fell to the ground, and Ben looked at his hands, shocked and amazed.

 

His amazement didn’t last long, because more children were coming in his direction, and Ben knew that he wasn’t strong enough to fight them all.

 

It appeared to him as if there were hundreds of children running towards him, even though it were maximally ten, and he didn’t even know why they wanted to hurt him.

 

Sure, he had been teased by some of them before, but he didn’t know that and why so many children disliked him.

 

“Stop it!” someone yelled. It was Thraken, as he ran in front of Ben to protect him from the other children.

 

It worked, because they stopped running towards him.

 

“Why are you protecting him?” a red-haired girl asked.

 

“Because he is my friend! I like Ben! Now leave him alone!” Thraken said and the other children obeyed.

 

Ben raised his eyebrows. When they were alone again, Ben asked shily: “How did you do that”’ Thraken shrugged. “They like me. But I don’t like them. They’re mean.” “Thank you.” Ben said. “Of course. You’re my friend! That’s what friends do for each other.”

 

Later, Ben had found out that Thraken was Force sensitive, too, and while he’d been shocked, Ben was happy that he wasn’t the only one with the Force.

 

When Ben left to go to Luke, Thraken stayed behind, but had joined him one year later at the temple.

 

Years later, Thraken had left the temple again, had followed Ben to join the dark side, the First Order, and became one of the Knights of Ren.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, thank you very much for reading!  
> See you next Sunday!


	8. Chapter 8

“Thraken? Is that you?” Ben asked, knowing what the answer was. “Of course, it’s me.” Ben gulped. “Why are you doing this? I thought we were…friends.” Thraken only laughed.

 

“There is no such thing as friendship on the dark side. This is why I knew that you didn’t belong to us – to the dark side. You’re too soft for it.” Kylo growled. “I killed my own father. What do you think I have to do? I killed everyone I ever loved.” His former best friend snorted.

 

“Yes, you killed him, but it shook you to the core. It pulled you even more to the light, not to the dark, as you hoped. Besides that, what makes you say that you killed everyone you loved? You have a mother still, and this…Scavenger.” He said disgusted.

-

Rey was floating through space once more. While she never had a real home, aside from her AT-AT on Jakku, which never felt like one, space felt like home. When she was piloting the Falcon, she felt free and comfortable and calm, there was no pressure on the young woman, and she was able to forget everything.

 

She blocked everything out and just concentrated on herself, the stars and the Falcon. Too bad she didn’t know where she was heading. The young Jedi could only sense Ben barely, his Force-signature was still very numb.

 

After flying through space for some time, Rey decided to let the Force guide her, like it always did when she didn’t know what to do anymore. So, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, reached out with the Force and searched for Ben.

 

She found his dark but slightly light Force-signature and began to pilot the Falcon smoothly through space. Rey didn’t open her eyes, she knew it wasn’t very safe, but she ignored it, and flew into hyperspace.

 

When she opened her eyes again, she was able to locate a huge spaceship. She’d heard rumors about a new First Order vessel called Superiority being built, but no one ever talked about the size.

 

It was huge, and it seemed impossible to get inside. TIE fighters swirled around it to guard the Superiority and the tall canons didn’t look harmless either. Rey cursed under her breath, she didn’t even come up with any sort of a plan. Kriffing stupid.

 

She was lucky, because she had just installed a cloaking device (Rey had found out how to do it, even though Chewie had assured her that the Falcon was too small for one).

 

She knew that there was a chance that the crew of the Superiority was still able to locate her, but she didn’t know another way to save Ben.

 

So, she piloted in the direction of the huge vessel. To her surprise, none of the TIEs seemed to notice the cloaked Millennium Falcon.

-

Ben at the same time was annoyed by Hux once again, he was back.

 

“I have a surprise for you, Ren. It seems like you are soon going to have a visitor.” Hux said and grinned evilly. Ben only gave him a puzzled look.

 

“The scavenger is obviously trying to save you…On her own. She thought it would be enough to cloak this old piece of junk you call the Millennium Falcon. I thought she’d be smarter–“ Ben interrupted him.

 

“You’re lying. You just enjoy hearing yourself talk way too much, Hux.” Hux smirked.

 

“No, again bad for you, but I’m not. She is really making the same mistake again…Remember how she came to the Supremacy, to save you? Well, today it is going to kill her.”

 

Because he was blocked out from the Force, Ben couldn’t tell if the General was lying.

 

All he could do was hope. Would Rey really be that reckless? The answer was yes, if Ben was very honest. She could be very reckless and stubborn sometimes, not thinking about the consequences of her actions.

 

Especially if someone was involved who was important to her…But he wasn’t important to her, right?

 

Rey had abandoned him on the destroyed Supremacy after trying to steal his rightful inheritance, the Lightsaber of his grandfather and after him his uncle’s and breaking it in half (which he hadn’t played a very small part in, but that didn’t matter to Kylo at that moment).

 

But, before all that, she had put her life at risk by traveling to the Supremacy for him, and prior to that, they had touched hands on Ach-To.

 

She was so confusing.

 

“She’s stronger than the whole First Order. Especially stronger than you, you weak, dumb, arrogant…Fuck!” Kylo hissed aggressively.

 

Hux came towards him and slapped him right across the face, leaving a burning red mark. The ginger grinned.

 

“I’m going to enjoy killing the Scavenger slow and I’ll make it hurt, right in front of your eyes. And after that, I’ll make sure that your death is even more slow and torturous.” Kylo growled.

 

“You’re wrong. You’re the one that’ll die first, Hux.” “We’ll see.” Hux said.

-

It almost seemed as if they were expecting her.

 

What if they were? Like the last time, when she flew to the Supremacy, to talk to Ben, to turn him, but he instead had captured and brought her to Snoke?

 

Would it be possible for Ben to muffle his Force-signature?

 

Rey didn’t know if one could possibly to that, Luke taught her nothing about things like that, and she wasn’t able to read the Jedi texts.

 

Maybe she should go back? Back to the Resistance, back to Finn and her other friends. That way, she could avoid what possibly could be a trap. Just…Rey couldn’t do that.

 

She was very, very worried that something horrible had happened to Ben.

 

The Jedi knew that she wouldn’t be able to forgive herself if he’d get hurt or worse, and she again didn’t know why, because, technically, the former scavenger should be happy if he’d die or else.

 

Ben still was the Supreme Leader of the First Order. Well, she didn’t think about it much longer and focused on landing.

 

This was so kriffing stupid and imprudent. What was she thinking? Landing in the hangar of a fully occupied hangar of a First Order vessel? This was possibly the most stupid thing she’d ever done.

 

The “plan” (which wasn’t really a plan) was to blast as many Stormtroopers out of the way as possible, to use the chaos and use the Force to sense Ben, free him, and fly away with him.

 

It was doomed to fail, but she didn’t have another plan, and Rey also could possibly be running out of time.

 

The young woman was aware that she should’ve asked someone to come with her, but who would join her on a suicide mission?

 

Before she wrote the message, Rey didn’t tell her friends about her and Ben’s connection, and they would probably not understand it.

 

Leia had instructed her to not go on her own, and the others of the Resistance obviously didn’t want to help her. So, she had to help herself.

 

While she started to slow down the Falcon, the TIE’s changed their course. They were now flying towards her ship.

 

Rey began to panic, when they began firing, and she forced the Falcon to fly in maximum speed towards the hangar of the Superiority.

 

Apparently, that was what the TIE’s wanted her to do, because they stopped firing on her, and began to chase after her to make sure she really flew into the huge hangar.

 

She did, because she had to. Even with activated shields, she wouldn’t stand a chance against this high amount of TIE fighters.

 

She should have known this was a trap.

 

Was Ben responsible for this? It definitely was possible.

 

Even though she’d thought he wouldn’t betray her like this after all, Kylo had done it before and he still was the Supreme Leader of the First kriffing Order.

 

Rey seriously hoped that this wasn’t his sham.

-

Rey of course didn’t know that Ben wasn’t even bit responsible for the trap.

 

He was still lingering in his cell, not able to move a muscle.

 

Shortly after their conversation, Thraken had left Ben alone, because he had to go somewhere, and a usual Stormtrooper had taken his place as Kylo Ren’s guard. An honor to him for sure.

 

“Hey you there!” Ben said.

 

“Are…Are you talking to me?” a female voice answered, obviously a bit nervous.

 

“Don’t you have a bit respect for you Supreme Leader? C’mon, let me out, I always treated you Stormtroopers good.”

 

“I’m not allowed to talk to you.” She murmured, barely audible for Ben.

 

After a short pause, she said: “You’re not the Supreme Leader anymore. Hux is. I have to follow his orders, or I’ll be executed.”

 

Ben ignored her declaration and asked: “What’s your name?” “I’m not allowed to…” He interrupted her.

 

“You are allowed to tell me your name. Did he tell you to not tell me your name or what?” “No, but he said I shouldn’t talk to you or I’ll regret it.”

 

“Well, you already broke that rule.” The Stormtrooper cleared her throat.

 

“Yes, and because of that, you and I will stop talking now. That’s an order…Prisoner.” She said, hesitant. He only snorted.

 

“What if I tell Hux that you didn’t follow his orders? What happens then, huh?” the Stormtrooper was holding her breath.

 

“Please, don’t do that! My…My name is MA-1594.”

 

“Hello, MA-1594. I’m Kylo.” Now it was MA-1594 who snorted.

 

“I know that, and I think you’re trying to make me trust you, so I let you out.” Ben rolled his eyes.

 

“That was my intention, yeah. You won’t let me out…Right?” he asked. She laughed.

 

“Of course, I will. Only for my Supreme Leader.” MA-1594 said ironically. “I see, you’re getting less shy.” He said. “And cheeky.” Ben added. MA-1594 snorted again.

 

“Well, I have nothing to be scared of. You’re safe in your cell with your hands cuffed in Force-binders.” She said. “Are you sure about that?” “Yes, I am.”

 

Ben sighed. “Okay, what do I have to do so you let me out of here?” “I’m not corrupt.” MA-1594 said firmly.

 

“We both know that you don’t want Hux to be the Supreme Leader, right? And I also know that you Stormtroopers dislike the Knights of Ren. What if we both organize a rebellion against him?”

 

“What? Are you serious?” “Yes, I am.” MA-1594 stayed silent for some time. She seemed to be thinking about it. “Well…If I really help you out of here…” she began. “Yes?” Ben said impatiently.

 

“You have to make some changes for us Stormtrooper. Better working conditions, free choice if we want to stay or not, way more free time…Better food to eat, it’s really horrible, and…”

 

“Yes, yes! I’ll do whatever you want! Just let me go!” he interrupted her. “I would be very naïve if I’d just let you go with a guarantee that these things really happen. I’m not as naïve as you think, Kylo Ren. How do I know you’re not betraying me, so you can get out?” she asked.

 

“You just…Have to believe me! You will he treated way better under my command! I was just starting to change things. My goal is to change the First Order, but I need time for that, and you and the other Stormtroopers’ support. We need to get Hux and the Knights out of the way for that. Please trust me. You have to.” He practically begged her.

 

This was his only hope to get out of here and save Rey.

 

MA-1594 sighed. “I can’t believe I’m doing this.” She said to herself as she opened the thick, heavy door of his cell.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!


	9. Chapter 9

When Rey arrived at the hangar, the troops of the First Order already awaited her. Of course. Well, now that her first plan had already failed, she had to come up with another.

 

The problem was: Rey had no idea what this plan was supposed to be. She was, well, fucked. There was no way out, except that Ben would escape and she didn’t even know if he was conscious. Maybe Rey would have to improvise, trust in the Force and…Oh Force, she was in serious trouble.

 

Maybe she should just turn around and jump to hyperspace immediately. Dumb idea, she decided. It took some time to make the jump, and it was very likely that she’d crash into a TIE.

 

Suddenly, the lights inside the Falcon began to flicker. The console was dead, and the engine was powerless. Rey realized what had happened to her ship. It was paralyzed and pulled forward to the cavernous opening of the Superiority.

 

Now she had no chance of escaping anymore. It was over.

 

Rey would die on the Superiority.

-

When Ben saw MA-1594 for the first time, he was surprised that she was so small.

 

Even though almost everyone appeared small to him, because of his size, she seemed especially little, even smaller than Rey. And Rey was small. Very small.

 

But MA-1594 was tough, as every Stormtrooper was. They were trained from birth, but, as it seemed, not trained enough to have no personality or emotions.

 

This is why he’d always wanted a clone army.

 

Not only did they always follow orders and had no real personality, he didn’t like the fact that the Stormtroopers right now were taken from their families against their will. It was way too much like what had happened to Rey.

 

But right now, this weakness was a benefit for him, so he didn’t complain.

 

He had to help Rey and then get the hell out of here. For some time. Eventually, Ben would have to go back and claim his rightful place as the Supreme Leader of the First Order. Maybe Rey would come with him then…

 

MA-1594 cleared her throat and he realized that he’d stared at her the whole time.

 

“Uhm…Thank you.” He stuttered.

 

“You’re welcome. Now what? What’s the plan?” she asked. Ben thought for a moment.

 

“Okay. So first, I have to get out of here, and I have to take Rey with me - “

 

“Who’s Rey?” MA-1594 interrupted him, and Ben could tell that she was raising her eyebrows under her helmet.

 

“Someone important to me.” She nodded.

 

“When we managed to escape, Rey and I, we…Have to get help. We can’t do it on our own. You have to tell the other Stormtroopers what’s going on. If they don’t help, it’ll will fail.” “Understood.” MA-1594 said.

 

“Do you know where they put my Lightsaber?”

 

“Uhm…Yes, I think they locked it away. I can go get it for you.” She said and was about to go when Ben said: “Wait! Can you open my cuffs?”

 

“Oh, yes, of course. Wait a sec. I trust you.” She added. Ben rolled his eyes. “I would be very stupid if I’d kill you know because I don’t even know where my Lightsaber is.” She only shrugged and opened his cuffs.

 

“There you go.”

 

Ben closed his eyes and sighed happily as the Force floated through his body again. He immediately reached out for the Force bond and sighed again in relief, because it was still there, still very much alive and sparkling. It was comforting to know it was there, and he felt stronger, calmer and safer.

 

“Rey?” he almost screamed at her through their bond.

 

“Ben! Oh Force, are you alright? What happened to you?” she cried out.

 

“Yes, I’m fine. A Stormtrooper helped me to escape. Hux and my knights betrayed me and locked me in a cell. They used Force-binders on me, so I was cut off from the Force.” He explained hastily.

 

“That’s why your Force-signature was so numb...” she whispered more to herself than to Ben.

 

Ben nodded even though he knew that she wasn’t able to see him.

 

“Rey, where are you right now? You have to leave. Hux is planning to capture you, it’s a trap, I know I can escape, but…” Rey interrupted him.

 

“It’s too late. They already have me. They’re pulling me into the Superiority at this moment.” She said sadly. Ben gasped.

 

“What? No! I’m going to help you! I don’t know how yet, but…” “Ben, no. You have to run. Go to the Resistance and tell them what happened, they’ll help. Or just leave me here…If we both die, everything was senseless.”

 

“Stop saying such things, Rey! I just created a rebellion within the First Order with the Stormtroopers, against Hux and the knights. They’re going to help us, we just need more time!” Ben argued desperately.

 

“Really? So, there’s hope…I always knew that Finn wasn’t the only one…” she said, again more to herself than to Ben.

 

“Yes, of course. There’s always hope.” He could literally feel Rey smile.

 

“Okay, so we have a plan. Now, you have to get out of here. Go to the Resistance and tell them what happened. After that, you’ll come back here, take me with you, and we’ll help the Stormtroopers to take over.”

 

“No, I’ll try to save you now, I don’t want to leave you with these…Monsters. What if they kill you?”

 

“Ben! How many times do I have to tell you that it’ll all be for nothing if we both die here? Besides, they’re not going to kill me. It would be a waste for them, they’ll try to use me as bait, so they can kill us both.”

 

Ben sighed. “Rey…”

 

“Ben? Please?”

 

“Okay, fine. I’ll go. But…Don’t you dare to die! You won’t get rid of me that easy.” Rey snorted.

 

“I won’t. Now go. They’ll cuff me with Force-binders, so we won’t be able to communicate for some time.”

 

“Okay. I missed you.” “I missed you too, Ben.”

 

After that, he opened his eyes again. MA-1594 stood in front of him, obviously waiting for him to do so. She was holding Ben’s Lightsaber in one hand, and a strange white bag in the other.

 

“How long have you been standing there?” He asked, a bit embarrassed. “A few minutes. What were you doing?” the Stormtrooper asked curiously.

 

“Just…Communicating with someone.” She raised her eyebrows but didn’t ask more questions.

 

“What is in that bag?” Ben asked. “Stormtrooper armor. You’ll need it, as a disguise, or how did you think you’d get out? You may have the Force, but you’re not that strong. Even though they seem to be distracted right now…”

 

Ben hadn’t even thought about any sort of a disguise.

 

“Thank you.” He said and MA-1594 handed him the bag. He opened it and inspected the armor.

 

“I took the biggest one I could find. If it doesn’t fit…” “No, no, I’m sure it fits.” He said and began to change.

 

After some time, he was ready.

 

“Very restrictive…” Ben determined. MA-1594 shrugged.

 

“I’m already used to it. It’s strangely familiar.” She said while handing him his Lightsaber. “Just use this when you really have to.” He nodded.

 

“You know what? I don’t want to call you MA-1594. I’ll call you…Mara. Is that alright?” Ben asked.

 

Mara looked as if she’d just received the most precious gift in the whole galaxy.

 

“Yes! Yes, that sounds great! Thank you so much! I never had a real name!” she said happily and gave him a wide smile. Ben smiled a little, too.

 

“So, what now?” Mara asked.

 

“I’m going to get the hell out of here. I’m sure you are going to need some time to tell the other Stormtroopers what’s going on?” Ben asked. Mara nodded.  
“Yes, but I won’t need more than two days, I guess.”

 

“Okay, that’s good. I’ll fly to the Resistance and try to convince them of our plan…No idea if it’ll work, but I hope so. They’re my only hope, so I don’t have a choice.” Mara nodded again.

 

“Understood. As soon as you and the Resistance attack the Superiority, I will send the others a signal so they know that they can attack Hux and the Knights.” “Are you sure that you can convince them?”

 

“Yes, I’m sure. They also prefer you over Hux.” She confirmed.

 

“Good, so…This has to work, or the Resistance will lose.” He said. “I know. It will work. I’m sure.” “Great. So, I’m going to go now.” Ben said and waved.

 

She only nodded. When Ben carefully skimmed over the surface of her thoughts, without her noticing it, he was able to feel her excitement, her loyalty and confidence.

 

After he had walked a few steps, he turned around again. “And Mara?” Ben began. “Yes?” “Thank you very much. I don’t know what I would’ve done without you.” She nodded. “Thank you, too. For starting a rebellion.”

-

Rey had been captured, but the conversation with Ben through their shared bond gave her hope.

 

She was almost sure, no, Rey knew that he and the Resistance would come to save her and to crush the First Order with the help of the Stormtroopers.

 

The woman was lost in thought while kneeling in front of Hux and his troops. He seemed to notice it, because he slapped her.

 

“What are you thinking of? Your amazing boyfriend? Well, he can’t save you. Kylo Ren is locked away securely.” The ginger general sneered while Rey thought to herself: ‘If you knew…’ but stayed silent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you very much for reading!  
> Sorry that I didn't upload yesterday, I was just simply very busy. This could happen more often in the next weeks, but I promise that I'll upload the new chapter one or two days later.


	10. Chapter 10

The Knights stood at the side of Hux. When he ordered one of them to lock her in a cell, the Knight obeyed immediately.

 

Rey frowned. She was able to feel the Force flow through him, why did he obey? He was for sure stronger than Hux.

 

However, the knight pulled her up roughly and dragged her through some corridors, left, right, left, left.

 

She tried to memorize the way, but it was almost impossible. With her hands cuffed with Force-binders, she couldn’t feel Ben’s presence in the Force anymore, so the Jedi didn’t know where he was.

 

Hopefully he was on his way out.

-

Ben was on his way out, but not without regretting that he didn’t have the chance to take Rey with him.

 

He clenched his hands at the thought of something happening to her. It was cheesy, but he had to realize that his heart ached a bit.

 

Ben never thought he’d ever wear a Stormtrooper armor one day, but it seemed to run in the family.

 

Of course, his parents had told him the stories of how Han and Luke had saved Leia when she had been captured by the Empire.

 

As a little child, Ben Solo had always listened attentively, trying to not miss a single word, he’d always loved his parent’s stories, and he remembered how their eyes lit up and the way his parents had looked at each other lovingly. Forgotten were their fights and the weight on his parents’ shoulders for some time.

 

Ben smiled under his mask.

 

He joined a few Stormtroopers who were heading in the direction of the hangar.

 

Ben could take a risk and just go to the hangar on his own, because he, as the -former - Supreme Leader of the First Order knew the Superiority like the back of his hand, but it was better to not attract somebody’s attention, the Stormtroopers didn’t know about Mara’s and his plan yet.

 

So, he followed them for some time to get to the hangar.

 

He considered taking the Millennium Falcon to fly to the Resistance.

 

His shuttle was too tall and would only make the Resistance think he’d come to kill them all.

 

The Falcon and his father had taught him how to fly. It was the first ship he ever flew on his own. Ben remembered his father sitting next to him proudly on the copilot’s seat, smiling at his son while Ben had piloted the Falcon through space.

 

The best memories with Han Solo that he possessed were located in the Millennium Falcon.

 

His father’s ship had always been more of a home to him than any of the beautiful houses Ben and his family lived in and even though it wasn’t even close to being one of the fanciest ships he’d ever flown in his life, some people would even go so far and call it ‘garbage’, the old ship was the best vessel in the galaxy to him.

 

And he didn’t like to admit it.

 

Back when he ran his lightsaber through Han Solo’s stomach, Ben had hoped these feelings would just disappear.

 

Of course, they didn’t. The pull to the light remained, even got stronger to the disappointment of Snoke.

 

His former master had assumed that such a horrible and unnatural act would finally destroy Ben Solo completely. He had been wrong.

 

Even though Ben knew that he would never be a Jedi or a complete lightsider and Kylo Ren would always be part of him, but he could be a better person, with Rey’s help and support.

 

He knew that he wouldn’t be able to do it without her and even with her it was going to be a long and hard way. But Ben Solo was willing to try it.

 

But first, he had to make it back to the Resistance, without getting himself killed.

 

He decided to take the Falcon, even though it was way more suspicious.

 

Ben didn’t have the heart to leave Rey and Chewbacca’s ship here. Besides that, the Resistance would not shoot him out of the sky on sight.

 

So, he took a deep breath and walked towards the Falcon trying to not be noteworthy. He was just a Stormtrooper right now. Just a Stormtrooper. Ben shielded his Force-signature from the Force, so the Knights would not be able to sense him.

 

Moving on, the Falcon came closer and closer. He was able to see two Stormtroopers guarding the ramp of his father’s ship.

 

When Ben came to a halt in front of them, they raised their blasters and pointed them at him.

 

“Nobody’s allowed to come close to the Millennium Falcon. Turn around immediately, or we’ll have to stun you.” One of them said.

 

“You will let me go inside of this ship and leave immediately. You’ll also forget that we had this conversation.” Ben told them while waving his hand in front of them. They obeyed immediately and Ben hurried to get up the ramp.

 

He remembered the last time he had been inside of the Falcon, not too long ago.

 

_-Flashback-_

 

_Thanks to his many layers of clothing, the very low temperature didn’t bother Kylo Ren a lot._

 

_His mask not only shielded his facial expressions from the rest of the world, it also protected his pale face from the ice-cold snowflakes that crashed as hard as small rocks against his body, which was almost all the time the case on Starkiller Base._

 

_But Kylo Ren wasn’t outside for a little walk in the snow that reached to his ankles. He’d felt the distressing presence of Han Solo on the weaponized planet and was searching for the man he used to call his father._

 

_He wasn’t sure where Solo was right now, but the Millennium Falcon had been located, and Kylo was on his way to inspect it._

 

_Even though he knew that Han Solo had most certainly already left the Falcon, Kylo had to go there, because…Actually he didn’t have a very good excuse for inspecting his father’s ship, but he went there anyways._

 

_When he finally stood in front of the Falcon, Ben, to his utter dismay, felt like he was home again. Kylo clenched his fists and walked without hesitation towards the already lowered ramp of the ship._

 

_Once he was inside, memories came crushing down on him and he only noticed incidentally how a Stormtrooper confirmed that the ship was clear._

 

“Try and catch me, mom!” a little toddler with thick black hair and big ears, giggling while running away from Leia Organa.

 

She smiled and chased after him. When she’d managed to capture him, the former princess lifted her son up in the air and whirled him around.

 

“Do you know what time it is, Benny?” “Mom…I’m not even tired yet! I don’t want to go to bed…Please, just a few more minutes?” Ben asked and looked at her with big brown eyes, like he always did when he wanted something from her or anybody else.

 

Ben was well aware that most people weren’t able to resist his eyes - but as his mother, Leia was immune to it.

 

So, she put him to bed in one of the Falcon’s bunks, sung him his favorite lullaby and read a holo-book to him, but the little boy still wasn’t asleep and asked: “What’s about dad? Will he say goodnight to me, too?”

 

“No, dad has no time right now, he has to fly the Falcon, Benny.” She said.

 

“Do you think I can fly it one day, too?” “For sure.” Leia replied.

 

“When you’re older. But now, Benny, you have to sleep. Pilots have to rest a lot to be ready for their next flight!”

 

 

“Exactly, right. You’re doing very well, son.” Han Solo told his now fifteen years old son.

 

Ben smiled while controlling his father’s ship. His father stood behind him and Chewie was sitting on the copilot’s seat while howling something in agreement. “Thank you.” Ben murmured, deeply concentrated.

 

“Okay, so now son, it’s going to get very difficult. You have to navigate through an asteroid field. Do you think that you can manage it, or do you want me to-“

 

Ben interrupted him. “No. I can do it on my own.” He said firmly.

 

“Alright, but be careful and try not to kill us all. Remember what we taught you.” Han said. Ben snorted.

 

“Yes, dad. I get it. You told me that a million times.” “Don’t get cocky, Ben.” His son didn’t reply, he just increased the speed and rushed towards the asteroid field.

 

“Ben! Slow down!” Han yelled. “I can manage it, dad. It’s just a kriffing asteroid field.” “You can be glad that I’m not your mother, or you’d - “ he was interrupted by Ben nearly hitting an asteroid.

 

“Ben! What did I tell you?! Never ever fly too close to an asteroid with the Falcon, it’s not that slender!”

 

“I just wanted you to shut up, dad.” Ben replied and grinned. “Alright, alright, I’ll shut up. But…” Leia stepped into the cockpit. “Han Solo, are you insane?! Why are you flying into an asteroid field?” Ben ducked in his seat.

 

“What? Ben? Are you…You stuck-up idiots! What have I done wrong? Benny, get out of that seat, right now!”

 

“How? I’m piloting through an asteroid field, as you can see!” he said, his voice cracking and suddenly a whole lot higher.

 

“And stop calling me Benny!” He added whiningly while chewing on his lower lip.  
After some tense minutes, Ben had managed to navigate the Falcon through the asteroid field. While Han patted him on the back, proudly, Leia said enraged: “You’re extremely lucky that this asteroid field wasn’t that dense nor big. I will never leave you two alone again. Especially not in this cockpit.”

 

“Mom!” “Leia!” Han and Ben said at the same time.

 

“No! That’s it! You are not flying on your own again Benny, period!”

 

But Leia wasn’t very consistent. Of course, Ben flew the Falcon again after a short time.

 

 

_Kylo Ren ripped himself out of his memories again._

 

_He’d locked them away a long time ago, along with Ben Solo, in his most hated, innermost, darkest corner of his brain._

 

_Kylo shoved them out of the way, back in the corner. He had no time for junk like that._

 

_So, he moved forward. He came along all the things he’d liked to explore as a little boy._

 

_The things that were important to him when Kylo Ren hadn’t been Kylo Ren, but Ben Solo. The weak and foolish boy he hated so much but couldn’t get rid of._

 

_But today was the day Ben Solo would finally die._

 

_Moving on, he finally arrived the cockpit. Before he stepped in, he eyed it curiously._

 

_Sure, not only Kylo had grown older._

 

_Everything was a bit dirtier and more used, he raised his eyebrows when he saw how damaged some of the many buttons and levers were. He resisted the urge to brush some of the dust from the devices and took his hood off while stepping further into the cockpit._

 

_He propped himself on the backrests of the seats he sat in for so many times and murmured to himself: “Han Solo.”_

 

Back in reality, back shook his head to shove his memories away. There was no time for that right now.

 

When Ben arrived the cockpit, he wiped some dust off the devices and sat down in the pilot’s seat. He knew that it was difficult to fly without a copilot, but he had no choice, Stormtroopers could already be on their way, so he should better hurry up.

 

He almost automatically turned on the engines.

 

Ben decided to jump to lightspeed immediately. He knew that it was dangerous but there was no gunner so he wouldn’t be able to defend himself when TIEs would attack him.

 

So, he activated the shields and the cloaking device even though Ben knew that they would still be able to track him, it would be harder for the TIEs to see him if something somehow went wrong.

 

The cloaking device was new, and Ben frowned because he’d always thought that the Falcon was too small for a cloaking device, but he’d been proven wrong (“Probably by Rey” he thought to himself, smiling).

 

His palms were sweaty due to fear when the Falcon jumped into hyperspace.

 

After a few minutes, he sighed in relief. He was save for now.

 

This problem solved, the next one occurred. How was he, the former Supreme Leader of the kriffing First Order, supposed to know where the base of the Resistance was?

 

Ben had no idea where – He was ripped out of his thoughts by something beeping in the back of the cockpit.

 

Ben turned around, one hand immediately at the hilt of his Lightsaber.

 

A small, blue, all too familiar droid beeped at him aggressively. “Wha – Oh, it’s you, R2.” The droid asked him something.

 

“No, I didn’t steal – Well, I indeed stole it, but not from Rey, from the First Order. She told me to go to the Resistance, because she’s been captured, and I wasn’t able to save her…” he said and cleared his throat.

 

“I’m going to tell you and the rest of the Resistance more about it. Later. Now, you’re going to give me the coordinates of the Resistance base.” Ben said.

 

“Please.” He added after R2D2 hadn’t replied anything after a few seconds. But R2 didn’t seem very willing to answer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!  
> See you next Thursday!
> 
>  
> 
> Btw, the flashback in this chapter is inspired by this deleted scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=231CyePRDxw


	11. Chapter 11

Finally, R2D2 replied something and Ben said: “Yes, you can trust me…No, I…I can’t prove it, how am I supposed to? Yes, yes, I know it sounds ridiculous and…What?! No, I’m not going to hand you my Lightsaber, what if they try to blast my head off my shoulders?” Ben sighed as the stubborn droid stayed silent after Ben’s statement.

 

“Alright, fine. I’ll leave it in the Falcon. Deal?” R2 again didn’t say anything, but instead extended a little gripper. “Seriously?”

 

Ben asked but obeyed and placed his Lightsaber in the metallic gripper. “If you lose this…”

 

Ben began but was interrupted by R2D2 rolling away to transmit the coordinates of the new Resistance base into the computer of the Falcon. “There we go.” Ben murmured and sat down in the pilot’s seat once again.

 

Ben finally set course for the Resistance.

-

Rey, at the same time was captured in a cell like the one Ben had been locked in.

 

She sighed and tried to meditate, which was clearly impossible with her hands cuffed in Force-binders, but she had nothing to do. Of course, Rey wasn’t trained nor powerful enough to break through the barricades of the cuffs.

 

After a few tries, she gave up and sighed. Usually, it wasn’t her style to give up, but this situation was obviously hopeless.

 

Her only hope was Ben, who’d hopefully managed to escape.

 

Although Rey wasn’t sure what he had been talking about when he said that he’d organized a rebellion with the Stormtroopers, but she’d see. Ben was always full of surprises.

 

The young woman was amazed by his sudden rebellion against a system he’d so passionately believed in. Maybe everything begun with their Force-bond and their fingers touching on Ahch-To. When she’d kneeled in front of him in Snoke’s throne room, and Ben had raised his Lightsaber in front of her, Rey truly believed that these would be her last moments.

 

But Ben once again proved her wrong by killing his master for her and fighting against the Praetorian Guard with her.

 

After that, her hope that Ben Solo was still alive had diminished when he’d asked her to join him, to let her friends and with them the past die to rule the galaxy with him, Kylo Ren.

 

But Rey never wanted the galaxy. She also never wanted Kylo Ren. All she ever really craved was Ben Solo.

 

Still, the Jedi knew that Kylo Ren would never truly be gone. There always was and there would always be a part of him in Ben Solo.

 

But she was willing to accept that.

 

As long as she came out of here alive, which, at this point, wasn’t very likely. Hux hadn’t payed her a visit yet, probably because he was searching for Ben right now.

 

Speaking of the devil, the door was teared open and Hux stood in front of her, appealing taller than he actually was.

 

Artificial white light flooded into the cell and the ginger General’s, now Supreme Leader, shadow fell on her petite form. Rey was well aware that this was supposed to intimidate her, but it didn’t, not even a little bit.

 

“Look who’s here. The little scavenger…” Hux snarled and stepped closer. “Stay away from me.” Rey replied with bared teeth.

 

Hux of course didn’t obey and kneeled down in front of her to stroke over her cheek. Rey shook her head violently to stop it. “Not so strong now, are you?” he whispered in her ear.

 

Rey turned her face away from him.

 

_“He is only trying to intimidate you, ignore him, ignore him, he’s nothing more than a little ass trying to exploit his position of power, ignore him…”_ she told herself, knowing that she wouldn't stand a chance against him with the Force cut off from her, hands cuffed and without weapons.

 

“Seems like your precious _Ben Solo_ has left you…Did he tell you he’d come back and save you? With the Resistance? Didn’t your parents tell you the same thing when they left you on Jakku? Well, too bad he’s not going to come back, just like your parents…Do you really think that they care about you? They just use you, because you have your wonderful Force. Don’t you think that one Force-sensitive is enough for the Resistance? Now that they have Solo, they don’t need you anymore.” Hux said, grinning evilly, now running his hands slowly down her back.

 

Rey shuddered in disgust and tried to get his hands off her.  

 

“That’s not true!” she said, fear kicking in.

 

“Yes, yes, it is! Don’t you see that? Everybody you ever loved _left_ you, Scavenger, and that’s because you’re a nothing, a _nobody_.” Tears were running down Rey’s cheeks, and she found herself confronted with her biggest fear: _Being left alone._

 

_“You have no place in this story.”_ She heard Ben say.

_“You come from nothing.”_

_“You are nothing.”_

Maybe he’d been right. Rey from Jakku was nothing. A nobody. Just a filthy scavenger. Her parents sold her off for drinking money, just as Ben said.

 

But then she remembered what he’d said afterword’s.

_“But not to me. Join me. Please.”_

 

Even though she was a nobody, even though she had no place in this story, he still wanted her to join him. Rey still was not nothing to Ben. It didn’t matter where she came from, who her parents were or who she was, it never mattered. Because for her friends, for the Resistance and for Ben, she was someone. Someone important.

 

Because of that realization, and only because of that, she didn’t fall for the dark side. Rey was strong, she resisted the temptation to go the easy path of the dark side, which Ben had fallen for.

 

“You are _wrong_ , Hux.” Rey said, with the hint of a smile at the corner of her mouth, which made Hux even more angry.

 

“No, I’m not. You’ll have to realize that very soon, scavenger. And if you do, don’t hesitate to contact me. The Knights of Ren are very willing to show you the dark side. If you don’t…Well, you know what we do with scum like you…” he said, finally stood up again and left her alone in the dark cell.

-

Ben was about to arrive on Numidian Prime, the new location of the Resistance’s base. He was certain that someone would contact him as soon as he’d break through the atmosphere of the planet.

 

The Millennium Falcon dropped out of Hyperspace, and Ben felt like he just got hit in the stomach. Hard. He felt like he was about to puke but tried to pull himself together.

 

Ben hadn’t even given it a moment’s thought that he was going to see his mother again after years of separation. He was about to meet the woman again who had once been the person Ben had loved most, but also hurt most.

 

Her whole family had left Leia Organa. After she’d sent her son away to join Luke at the temple, everything had gone down the tube.

 

Ben had turned to the dark side, lit the whole Jedi temple on fire and left to become the apprentice of Snoke, and with it the master of the Knights of Ren.

 

Luke left after that, blaming himself for the creation of Kylo Ren, decided to live on Ahch-To, planning to die there. Which he did. Because of Kylo.  

 

Han, while he had never been home a lot, had completely left her alone with her grief and never even payed her a visit. He went back to the only thing he claimed to be good at: smuggling.   

 

Even though Luke and Han came back at the end, they both died because of Kylo, because of Ben. Her last moments with them had been happy ones. Maybe Leia’s last memory with Ben would be a happy one, too, before they’d go and rescue Rey?

 

Ben was the last one to return to Leia, and he also was the only family she had left. Maybe she didn’t even accept him as a son anymore, but that was fine. Ben would understand it, and he most definitely deserved it.

 

 

But for now, the challenge was to land the Falcon safely and not to get blasted out of the sky.

 

“Rey? Is that you? Where the hell have you been?” a female, obviously upset voice answered (he of course didn’t know that it was Connix).

 

“No, this is not Rey. This is Ben Solo, and I’m asking for permission to land.” He said after clearing his throat.

 

“What…Who, again?” “Ben Solo, this is Ben Solo. The son of General Leia Organa. Are you giving me permission to land?” it took a few moments before Connix to replied, she was obviously communicating with the others.

 

Ben gulped. Maybe this hadn’t been the right decision?

 

“You have permission to land. Get out of the Falcon with your hands up so we can see them. No weapons, or we’ll shoot at you immediately.” “Understood. Thank you.” He said and readied himself.

 

He had no weapons anymore, R2 already confiscated his Lightsaber.

 

When he’d debarked, he collected himself once again.

 

_“Focus Ben, focus. Don’t get angry if they don’t believe you at first. Convince them. Without invading their minds.”_ He thought to himself. Ben reminded himself of how important his was. If they didn’t believe him, Rey would either die or turn to the dark side, which he honestly didn’t believe would happen.

 

When he lowered the ramp of the Falcon and walked down with his hands up, R2 behind him, at least thirty blasters were pointed at him. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!  
> See you on Sunday! :)


	12. Chapter 12

“Hand us your Lightsaber, now!” someone, who Ben identified as Poe Dameron, yelled. Ben was able to sense his insecurity but didn’t comment on it.

 

“I don’t have it.” Ben said. “R2D2 already took it from me.”

 

The droid came rolling forward and handed the Lightsaber to Dameron. “Thank you, R2, good job.” He said quietly to the droid.

 

Ben rolled his eyes. Speaking of exaggerating. If Ben wouldn’t have wanted to give his beloved saber to a dirty droid, he wouldn’t have done it, but what he would’ve done is slicing the stupid R2 unit in two parts with this lightsaber.  
_“Remember why you’re here!”_ he thought, but Ben wasn’t exactly sure if it was he who just thought that, or someone else.

 

“Cuff him.” Poe told a small woman. She stepped forward with not a hint of fear and did what she was told without hesitation. “You’re under arrest.” She told him. “Great. Now I have to talk to my mo- Leia. Where is she?” Poe narrowed his eyes and replied: “You’re not in the position to ask something like that. For now, I’ll lock in a cell, where you belong.” “No! I don’t have time for that, there’s a reason why I’m here, or what do you think why I’m here? Just for fun? You’re even sillier than I remember you, Dameron. Now, where’s the general?”

 

He got his answer almost immediately.

 

“What is going on here, Poe? Why am I not aware that…” when she laid eyes on Ben, she stopped dead in her tracks.

 

“Ben?” she whispered. He gulped and nodded slightly.

 

He’d expected everything, but not what happened next.

 

The tiny woman came rushing towards him and embraced him in a tight hug. She only reached his chest with her small height and buried her face in it. Because of his cuffs, he wasn’t able to return the hug, but if he could have done it, he would’ve. Ben noticed that her tears were wetting his clothes, and realized that his cheeks were damp, too.

 

“Mom…” he said quietly, and Leia detached herself from him, raised her hand and cupped his cheek, just as Han had done it before falling into the abyss.

 

The thought of his father made more tears stream down his face, but his mother wiped them away.

 

“I’m sorry.” He said. She shook her head.

 

“I don’t want to talk about it right now, Ben. I’m just so happy you’re here.” She smiled.

 

“Me too, but I’m here because I have to tell you something.” Leia grew serious again.

 

“Okay, let’s go inside. Can someone please open his cuffs?” she asked a confused Resistance.

 

“But General…” Poe began but Leia interrupted him. “No, no buts!” Leia said and no one objected. The same woman who had cuffed him opened the cuffs again and gave him a wary look.

 

“Thank you, Rose. Follow me, Ben.” Ben obeyed and followed his mother inside.

 

She led him and the pilot into a more or less large room, with a long table in the middle. They were joined by someone Ben knew too well.

 

FN-2187, Ben remembered Rey calling him Finn, rushed into the room.

 

“Where’s Rey? What have you done to her? You manipulated her with the Force so she would go and try to find you, I read the letter she wrote, you’re a monster, she said it herself!” he yelled at Ben.

 

“I haven’t done anything, idiot. Rey is the reason I’m here, calm down.” He said and tried to stay calm himself.

 

Ben had always been jealous of Finn and Rey’s close friendship and had feared that there was something deeper than friendship between them.

 

Back in the forest on Starkiller Base, he’d felt the sharp pain of jealousy in his chest for the first time, and he didn’t know why.

 

Now he knew it, and the imagination of the traitor and _his_ Rey spending time together hurt him, and it probably always would.

 

“Finn, would you please calm down and sit with us? I’m sure Ben will explain why he’s here.” Leia said.

 

“Fine.” Finn murmured and sat down on the opposite side of the table, not without staring daggers at Ben. He ignored it and began to talk.

 

“As you obviously know, Rey flew to the Superiority to rescue me, because she sensed that something had happened to me. Which was right, Hux and my former Knights overpowered me.” Finn snorted.

 

“I thought you were so strong with the Force. How did they manage to subdue you?” he asked suspiciously.

 

“Well, I didn’t exactly expect my own Knights to overwhelm me, honestly. They were the only people I trusted for a long time next to Snoke.” Leia winced as he mentioned his former master.

 

“So, I was captured and locked in a cell. They planned to execute me and Hux took my place as the new Supreme Leader of the First Order. As you see, Rey isn’t here with me. Rey had no plan to go with and just flew straight into a trap of the First Order, they were already awaiting her. But I was lucky, I was able to escape with the help of a Stormtrooper,” Ben looked at Finn. “We made a deal. Better conditions for them under my command, freedom and free time. Things like that. They hate Hux either. So, she helped me out of my cell and handed me Stormtrooper armor.” Leia frowned.

 

“That means you’ll go back to the First Order?” Ben sighed.

 

“Yes, you know I don’t belong here. With you. I don’t deserve it neither do I want it.”

 

“That means we’ll have to take you as a prisoner, because you’re going to be the Supreme Leader of the First Order again!” Poe said, already rising from his chair, but Leia gesticulated him to sit down again.

 

“Poe’s right. We’d have to keep you here.” She said.

 

“No, I’m not going to be your enemy. I’ll change the First Order from the inside. We could work as partners to make sure the galaxy is at peace.” Finn raised his eyebrows.

 

“Why the change of mind? Some time ago, you wanted nothing more than to crush the Resistance.” He argued.

 

“Yes, and by the way. You haven’t told us everything. Did you just left Rey on the Superiority after she came there to save you recklessly? How did she know that you were in danger and how did you know that she was there? Is that normal for people who have the Force?” Poe asked.  
“Let’s just say so much: Rey and I share a Force bond. We can feel and hear each other at any time, and occasionally, we can also see one another.” Finn grimaced and murmured something probably not so nice. Ben continued either way.

 

“And my change of mind…Well, I came to realize that what I did was wrong. Most of it. I don’t have to tell you what changed my mind, it’s kinda private and it doesn’t really matter to you. I’m going to discuss it with Leia, later.”

 

Ben looked at his mother, and she nodded slightly. Finn snorted. “Great. Now, why did you leave Rey there?”

 

“She told me to. I didn’t want to, but she…” his voice cracked.

 

Ben still felt extremely bad for leaving her alone. Maybe she thought that he’d never come back, that he already abandoned her like her parents did.

 

“…she said it would make more sense if at least one of us would get out of there…” Ben didn’t want to say the word ‘alive’ because he knew that it wasn’t true. They’d both get out of there safely.

 

“Amazing. So, what now?” Poe said snidely. “What’s the plan?” Leia asked her son.

-

_Tall hands with long fingers were running up and down her slim body._

 

_Full, luscious lips kissed hers._

 

_Thick, long, raven hair tickled her face._

 

_She moaned as he pressed his lips on her neck._

 

_“Shhh…” a deep voice whispered. “You don’t want them to hear us, sweetheart.” He said as he pushed one finger inside of her and muted her by laying one of his tall hands on her mouth._

 

Rey’s eyes flew open. She blushed at the thought of the dream she just had. It was obvious who that man in her dream was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!  
> I'm sorry that the smut-part was so short, but there's gonna be more soon! ;)


	13. Chapter 13

“It doesn’t matter. Nobody will ever know.” She told herself.

 

The only thing besides her memories that remained was an uncomfortable dampness between her thighs.

 

Rey wasn’t completely unfamiliar with this, of course she had touched herself before. Even though Rey had never slept with anyone before, she’d seen a few…meaningful Holovids which she’d found on Jakku.

 

She didn’t like to admit it, but after she’d met Ben two years ago on Takodana, dreams like that appeared more often. The young woman always denied that it was Ben, that it was just a coincidence that the man had the same hair, voice and hands as Ben.

 

Even though there was no reason to deny it, it was just in her head. Maybe it scared her, because it would reassure her that she felt something except despise from him. All of this was new and foreign to her, Rey had never felt something like that for another person before.

 

On Jakku had never been the chance to experience something, and the men or women weren’t exactly…appealing.

 

At least not to her. Now that she thought about it, nobody except Ben had never been attractive to her.

-

“The plan…Well, the plan is to attack the First Order as soon as possible. I assume the arrangements for the attack will take some time?” Ben asked, Leia nodded.

 

“Okay, so, the Stormtroopers will have to prepare themselves, too. In one or two days, they should be ready. As soon as we attack, they’ll assail the officers and other staff like Hux. I’ll go and use the chaos to get Rey out of the cell.”

 

“How do we know that they really are loyal to you?” Poe asked.

 

“We have to trust them, it’s our only chance to get Rey out of there…And maybe your only chance to defeat the First Order. Be realistic, right now, you have no chance.” Ben reasoned.

 

“Alright, fine. For the sake of Rey. But I don’t trust you, I trust her.” Finn said while Poe nodded.

 

“Very good. Now, we have to tell the rest of the Resistance. Ben, do me a favor and let me talk. They won’t trust you.” Leia said matter-of-factly and raised from her chair.

 

After Finn and Poe had left the room, Leia closed the door and turned around to him with a worried look in her eyes.

 

“What do you want to tell me, Ben?” she asked. Ben cleared his throat. “Well…I thought you should know why I decided to change the First Order.” Leia nodded.

 

“I…I found the mask of grandfather. Some time ago.” Leia tensed at the mention of her father.

 

“He…Or at least I thought that it was grandfather, talked to me. It was exactly what I needed at that time, because I was torn between the dark and the light side and I didn’t know why.

 

He told me that I belong on the dark side, that it was my destiny. But, after some time, he stopped talking to me. I thought that it was because I was completely on the dark side.

 

After Snoke died, he began to talk to me again. But differently.

 

He told me to travel to Mustafar, which I did. I saw how he turned into Darth Vader there and…Anakin Skywalker appeared to me as a Force ghost.” Leia gasped.

 

“He talked to you?” she whispered in amazement. “Yes. He told me his story, about Padmé and why he turned, everything. Anakin told me not to go the same path, that it wasn’t too late to turn to the light again. He explained to me that it was Snoke who talked to me as Darth Vader. Everything I did suddenly seemed so…Unnecessary.”

 

He said and gulped at the thought of his crimson red Lightsaber running through his father’s body, at the thought of slicing Lor San Tekka in two.

 

“I understand.” Leia said, lost in thought. “What are you thinking about?” Ben asked.

 

“I’m wondering why he didn’t talk to you earlier. My father…He could’ve prevented everything that happened just by talking to you.”

 

“Maybe it was because I wasn’t ready, because the light in me was too weak. After Rey came into my life, I began to change, and I don’t know why.” Ben replied after thinking for a few moments.

 

“I should’ve asked him that, but I simply wasn’t able to.”

 

“Ben…Why do you think he never talked to me?” Leia asked sadly. “I…I don’t know.” “I could’ve used some help. By the father I never met. Some sort of explanation. Support, when the New Republic found out that I was Darth Vader’s daughter, he could have talked to me to explain that he didn’t die as Darth Vader but as Anakin Skywalker. But he didn’t, so Luke explained it to me, years after our father died. Nothing. Never.” Leia said with a thick voice, a tear slipping out of her eye and rolling down her cheek. She wiped it away swiftly. “It’s not your fault.” Ben said and embraced her in a hug, stroking over her back.

 

“We can’t reverse it, and that’s fine. It’s okay. I’m here now. I’m here.” He said as Leia sobbed quietly.

 

The poor woman had experienced so much horror in her life, she deserved to cry. Usually, Leia never allowed it to happen, told herself that she had to stay strong for the Resistance.

 

She’d always put the needs of others before hers. Leia had to be strong when her loved ones weren’t. Ben hadn’t seen that as a child. He did, now.

 

After a few minutes, Leia detached herself from her only son. “Better?” He asked and Leia nodded.

 

“We’ll have to go and tell the others about our plan now.” She told him while wiping the tears off her face. “Should I stay here?”

 

“No, please join me. But I’ll hand you some other clothes…You don’t need the First Order garment anymore.” She said while glancing at his black clothing. Ben nodded and followed her out of the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!  
> See you next Thursday. :)


	14. Chapter 14

“Why isn’t he cuffed?”

 

“Is that Kylo Ren?”

 

“What is he doing here?”

 

“He’s a murderer!”

 

“Didn’t he kill Han Solo? Has she just forgiven him?”

 

The Resistance fighters asked themselves, their comrades and the General herself.

 

Ben stood next to his mother, now wearing some standard Resistance clothing. The trousers and sleeves were slightly to short, but Ben didn’t really care. It was strange to not wear black, and his new outfit seemed way too colorful for his taste, even though it was only colored in different shades of brown.

 

“Silence!” Leia yelled, and everyone kept their mouths shut immediately.

 

“There’s an explanation for what is happening. My son is here for a reason. Let me explain it to you, you can judge later. We finally have a plan how we can take out the First Order.” Leia explained hopefully.

 

So, she told the Resistance about her and Ben’ s plan.

 

They listened stunned, and when she finished talking, they had to progress for a few seconds what she’d just told them.

 

After that, everyone collected themselves again and began talking to their neighbor.

 

“Well, that may sound great, but how do we know he’s not lying?” Rose asked.

 

“Right,” Connix agreed “How can he prove that what he says is true?”

 

“If I’m lying to you, you can execute me in front of the whole Resistance. But I’m telling you the truth, the only thing I want is to save Rey.”

 

“But why though?” someone Ben didn’t know asked.

 

“Because…Because we’re connected by the Force-bond, our destinies are intertwined. I’m sure that Rey and I can bring balance to the Force.” Ben tried to explain, but it was probably hard for someone who wasn’t Force-sensitive nor had any experience with the Force.

 

“Do you love her?” FN-21…Finn asked suddenly.

 

“Excuse me? I... What?” Ben stuttered, at a loss for words.

 

How dare he ask him something so personal in front of the whole Resistance? Maybe he should consider thinking about execution now.

 

“You understood me correctly, Ren.” Rey’s best friend insisted.

 

“I…I actually don’t think that really matters… Why are you asking, if I may ask?” Ben asked suspiciously while blushing a bit. He gazed to his mother to seek some support…Was she actually grinning?!

 

“Well, why would you do something like that if you don’t love her?”

 

“I could just like her as a friend, just because…”

 

Leia interrupted Ben and changed the subject for the sake of her son. “So, I think we all agree to the terms?” She asked the crowd. Everyone nodded.

 

Ben sighed in relief. “Thank the Force. Now, let’s start with the preparations. We don’t have much time.” Leia said and clapped enthusiastically, while the people walked out of the room.

 

She turned around to face Ben. “This turned out better than I thought!” she said and they both smiled.

 

“Thank you for…Well, everything. I know that you can never forgive me for what I’ve done…I can’t forgive myself either, but maybe we could try to…process it? Together?”

 

“You’re right. I can’t forgive you. Someday, maybe. But for now…I think I can try to forget it.” Ben smiled sadly. “Thank you.”

 

After a short, but not uncomfortable silence, Leia said: “I can show you where you can stay for now.”

 

 

Ben sat in the quarters he’d newly moved into, on his bed.

 

While stroking over the covers, lost in thought. He thought about everything that had happened in such a short amount of time.

 

He’d talked to his grandfather Anakin Skywalker, had learned that almost everything he ever did was for no real reason, two of his Knights had died, the rest of them had betrayed him by joining Hux.

 

He’d woken up in a cell, which a Stormtrooper helped him getting out of, not without him promising her that he’d arrange better conditions for them under his lead.

 

He was forced to leave Rey alone on the Superiority because she’d tried to rescue him without having a plan. Because of her, Ben traveled to the Resistance to inform them about the rebellion of the Stormtroopers.  
Looking back, everything was going insanely fast, and Ben didn’t know if he could keep up if the time would continue to run that fast.

 

He wondered what Rey was doing right now…Probably nothing fun, perhaps lying on the floor of a damp cell, if not something worse.

 

Ben could only hope what Hux didn’t do something to her. If Hux laid one dirty finger on his Rey, he’d pull the man apart, limb by limb.

 

But right now, Ben couldn’t do anything, which made him feel extremely useless. Leia had told him to go into his quarters to get some rest and sleep, but that was impossible, Ben was way too anxious for that.

 

He was well aware that Leia just wanted him to stay away from the prearrangements, from Poe, Finn and the rest of the Resistance to avoid any tension or fights between him and them.

 

He decided to meditate. It usually always helped him when he was upset.

 

After two hours of meditation, he opened his eyes again, feeling suddenly calmer. They were going to make it. Somehow. He smiled to himself and laid down on his new bed.

 

_She moaned quietly as he palmed one of her tiny breasts through her shirt._

 

_He pressed his lips on hers to muffle another moan when he slipped his other hand into her panties to rub her clit._

 

_He was able to feel her arousal through the bond and Rey bit down on his lower lip, so hard that she almost drew blood._   
_Ben only grinned at her impatience and increased the speed of his thumb on her tiny bundle of nerves. Her cunt twitched as she came with a loud moan._

 

Ben’s eyes flew wide open, heart beating insanely fast. He rubbed his face. What had just happened?

 

He didn’t know, but he definitely knew that he needed a cold shower. Right now.

 

-1 day later-

 

“We’re ready to go.” Leia told her son. Ben leaped up to his feet off of his bed and was about to move past her when she held on to his arm. “Please, Ben…Be careful. Don’t do anything reckless. I can’t lose you. I wouldn’t manage another loss.” She told him.

 

He smiled at her. “I’ll come back, mother. With Rey.” Ben assured her.

 

Leia raised her hand up to his face and stroked carefully over the patched scar that ran from his forehead down to his chest. She smiled.

 

“I can’t say that you didn’t deserve it.” “I deserve it still. Definitely.”

 

 

Ben sat in an X-Wing. He really did.

 

The last time he every piloted a Starfighter of the Resistance, he had been a little kid, and it probably was a different model now.

 

“Okay, this is black one. Don’t mess it up, blue three.” Dameron said. “I won’t.” Ben replied, he was blue three now.

 

“Great. Show us that you’re such a great pilot as everybody says.”

 

“Got it, black one. Afraid I’ll contest your reputation as the best pilot of the galaxy?” Ben teased, grinning.

 

“No, actually not. I know I’m better than you. Concentrate on the mission, blue three.”

 

“Understood.” Ben replied drily.

 

“Okay pilots, no fighting over such stupid things right now. This is not the best time. As Poe said, concentrate on attacking the Superiority.” Leia ordered through the comm’.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!  
> See you next Sunday!


	15. Chapter 15

When the alarm resounded through the halls of the Superiority, Hux was in Rey’s cell, in company of a Stormtrooper standing outside of the door.

 

The Supreme Leader raised to his feet, as he was kneeling in front of Rey once again and was about to ask the Stormtrooper furiously what was going on when he noticed that there was no one positioned outside of the cell anymore.

 

Rey grinned. She felt somehow what was going on. Her friends were here to rescue her.

 

“You’re lucky for now, scavenger. When I get back, I’ll wipe that smile off your face.” He said and she only growled. Hux closed the door behind him, locked it, and immediately contacted one of the Knights of Ren.

 

“What is going on?” he asked impatiently.

 

“The Resistance is attacking us!” Thraken replied, having to scream because of explosions in the background.

 

“They shouldn’t be a challenge for us. It’s a suicide run. This is our chance to finally wipe them out of the galaxy.”

 

He was about to put his commlink back in his pocket and take out his blaster, when Thraken replied: “Negative, Supreme Leader. It seems like the Stormtroopers have turned against us, we could possibly be overwhelmed by them! They’re too many!”

 

“What?! That’s impossible! The Stormtroopers have been trained from birth, there never were any complications except…”

 

“I can only report back to you what’s happening, Supreme Leader, and this is serious. Maybe we should consider leaving the ship.”

 

“No, not yet. I won’t leave the Superiority for the Resistance-scum. We have other personnel, tell them to fight, use your great Force power, I’ll call for reinforcements. It’ll take some time for them to arrive, so distract them for a while!” Hux ordered.

 

“Understood, Supreme Leader.” Thraken answered hastily and Hux heard someone screaming in the background. The Supreme Leader clenched his fists and made a decision. He turned around and hurried back to the scavenger’s cell.

-

Ben piloted his X-Wing straight into the hangar. He was the first one to land and jumped out of his Starfighter, deflecting some blaster shots with his crimson Lightsaber.

 

His plan had worked. The Stormtroopers were fighting against officers, for the Resistance. He was already awaited by Mara, former MA-1594. She’d taken her mask off and smiled at him through large green eyes. She was very pretty, as Ben noticed. Her hair was short and hazel, her lips full and her nose small. Her ears were slightly jutting, and she had a round face.

 

Of course, she was not even closely as pretty as Rey, he noted.

 

“Liking what you see?” Mara asked flirtatiously, and Ben, not used to this kind of question, blushed a bit.

 

“I…I guess?” It felt wrong saying that, and he didn’t know why. The whole situation seemed weird and uncomfortable to him. Mara seemed to notice it and smiled it away.

 

“So…What next? We clearly have the upper hand…” “I’ll go to the cells. Do you want to come with me?” he asked hastily. She nodded.

 

“Follow me.” She said and he did as he was told, even though he rolled his eyes. It seemed like Mara had forgotten that he was the former Supreme Leader and knew this ship pretty well.

 

They ran past Stormtroopers and Resistance fighters, engaged in fights against officers, past debris and dead bodies. The air was full of smoke and it was hard to breathe. Ben knew that they didn’t have much time. The ship could break apart.

 

“We’re almost there!” Mara yelled as she shot an officer in the chest.

 

Suddenly, Ben heard a familiar voice scream. He turned around and saw Finn, falling to the ground, alone and obviously injured.

 

An officer pointed a blaster towards him, and Ben realized that Finn had no chance in defeating himself, his blaster laying a few meters away.

 

As the man shot at Finn, everything seemed to slow down.

 

“NO!” Ben screamed and raised his hand.

 

The blaster bolt stopped right in front of Finn’s face, almost burning his skin.

 

Ben ran towards the officer before he could fire another bolt at Rey’s best friend and ran his Lightsaber through him. He had no chance.

 

Ben helped Finn to his feet again as the blaster bolt in the air unfastened itself and hit another officer.

 

Finn looked at him, in disbelief. “You’re welcome.” Ben said and Finn asked: “Why did you do that? I know you dislike me, so why save me?” “Because it’s the right thing to do.”

 

After a short silence, Ben added: “You should probably get going now. This ship will break apart soon, and you’re injured.” Finn nodded. “Good. I’ll go and get Rey out of her cell.”

 

“I’ll come with you!” Finn said, as Ben had thought he would.

 

“No, bad idea. Get out of here. You’re injured.”

 

“But Rey is my best friend! I won’t leave her here!” Ben sighed.

 

“Do you trust me?” Ben asked him. “I…guess…By the way, I owe you one for saving my life.” Finn said. “Yes, you do. And because of that, you’ll go now. As you said, you owe me one. So, go. Trust me, I’ll bring her back safely.”

 

Right at that moment, Poe came running towards them. “We have to go! This ship won’t make it much longer, we’re evacuating the Stormtroopers right now – can’t believe we’re doing that – and we should go, too, buddy. And Ren.” He added.

 

“Great. Do that. I’ll go and get Rey, with my Stormtrooper friend Mara here.” Ben said and pointed at Mara. She nodded. “Nice to meet you.”

 

“Okay, let’s go buddy.” Poe said and took Finn’s hand. “But…” Finn said and looked at their intertwined hands, obviously confused. Ben smiled to himself.

 

He waved at them and followed Mara, who’d already continued to run in the direction of the cells.

 

As they arrived, Ben asked: “Do you know in which cell she was imprisoned?” Mara shook her head and answered: “We’ll have to search for…” she was interrupted by someone blocking their way.

 

Hux was holding Rey in front of him, a blaster pointed at her head, three of the Knights of Ren standing behind him in the wide corridor.

 

“Ben!” Rey screamed desperately and tried to get out of the Supreme Leader’s grasp but failed. Her hands were still cuffed, so she wasn’t able to use the Force.

 

“No!” Ben whispered and Hux grinned evilly.

 

“Not so fast, Ren. Did you really think this would be that easy? It seems like you completely forgot about the Knights…And about the rest of the First Order’s fleet. Reinforcements are on their way and will crush you and the other rebel scum.”

 

One Knight behind Hux cleared her throat and as Hux turned around, she whispered something in his ear. “What?! And you couldn’t tell me that earlier?” he yelled, and Ben used the distraction to his benefit.

 

He detached the Force-binders from Rey’s wrists through the Force.

 

She reacted fast and pushed the three Knights and Hux away from her with the Force.

 

It felt good having it back and flowing through her veins again.

 

But what felt even better was being able to feel their bond again.

 

She sighed in relief and Ben was overwhelmed by a tiny woman rushing towards him and hugging him tightly.

 

Rey looked up to him and he looked down to her as he took her face in his hands, bent down and kissed her on her lips, without any hesitation.

 

Rey was a little surprised but kissed him back after a few moments. It felt good, being so close to him. His lips were full and soft, she’d always wondered how they’d feel against hers – They felt amazing and Rey also realized that this was her first kiss ever.

 

Ironic, that she had it was with the one she was supposed to despise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!  
> See you next Sunday!


	16. Chapter 16

After some time, which seemed like years, Rey detached herself from Ben, smiled and looked him in the eyes.

 

And she was positively surprised to see happiness and brightness instead of the usual grief and bitterness in his pretty brown eyes.

 

Ben gave her a wide smile and she wondered if it was the first time she’d ever seen him smile. It probably was.

 

Someone cleared his throat behind them.

 

When Rey turned around, she laid eyes on a small woman with green eyes and short hair.

 

“I’m sorry to interrupt you, but we should really get going.” She said.

 

Rey smiled and stretched out her hand in front of her. “Hey! I’m Rey. And you are…?”

 

“Mara. I am the Stormtrooper who freed Kylo out of his cell.” Mara shook Rey’s hand while looking at Ben.

 

“Then I guess I have to thank you, without you…” their conversation was interrupted by Ben screaming: “Rey! Drop!” the young woman obeyed just in time and dragged Mara along with her to the ground just in time before a blaster bolt could hit one of them. It almost singed the upper bun of her hairstyle but was freezed in the air by Ben.

 

Rey raised to her feet again, and Ben luckily already expected another blaster bolt, so he threw his Lightsaber at her, for her to catch it.

 

She ignited his crimson Lightsaber, her face illuminated by the dark red light of the crackling saber as she parried the next blaster bolts that Hux fired at her.

 

It didn’t take a long time until one of his own shots was reflected by Rey back at him hitting Hux directly in his left thigh. Screaming in agony, he fell down on one knee and held his injured thigh.

 

“Do something!” he screamed at his four knights.

 

They obeyed, one of them attacking Rey, the other two attacking Ben and Mara.

 

Ben was aware that he and the Stormtrooper wouldn’t be able to defend themselves against the knights without a Lightsaber. They had to distract them until Rey had killed the other one.

 

Rey at the same time fought one knight. Ben’s weapon felt strangely heavy in her hands, and she wondered how he was able to hold it in only one hand. However, it didn’t feel bad, but oddly familiar.

 

Sure, she already held it in her hands for a few seconds in Snoke’s throne room, but back then, she hadn’t thought about it.

 

Rey raised her hands to meet the knights Lightsaber with hers, only to push back against his red saber in the direction of his face. He clearly hadn’t expected this high amount of strength from her, but adjusted himself again, ducked down and tried to strike at her legs.  
She jumped back, the Lightsaber of her opponent barely missing her legs, Rey hissed because of the extreme heat of the saber against her exposed flesh.

 

They fought on for a few minutes and Rey slowly became desperate, the fight seemed futile and she was aware that Ben and Mara would only be able to distract the other two knights for a limited time.

 

So, she reached out to the Force.

 

She sensed Ben’s desperation, his fear, but also his hope, his love for her. At first, she was startled by that, but she also felt…Proud, that someone felt something like that, and it brought her hope back, her desperation disappeared.

 

Rey would win this. For them. For their future together, and the future of the galaxy, her friends.

 

She called out to the Force once again, it strengthened her and the strokes of Ben’s Lightsaber in her hands against the knight.

 

Finally, he was distracted by a blaster bolt almost hitting him and Rey ran the blade through the midsection of her opponent. His dead body sagged against her and she shoved him away from her.

 

She turned around to face Ben and Mara, and immediately ran over to Ben, because he was pushed in a corner and was only able to defend himself with his own strength, which seemed limited at this time.

 

She stabbed Ben’s Lightsaber through the back of the knight, who didn’t expect it and was dead immediately.

 

The other knight had noticed it and roared in agony as he noticed that the last of the others had died. He rushed towards Rey to avenge his companions.

 

But Ben didn’t allow that. He knew that Rey wouldn’t be able to defend herself that fast, because she was standing with the back to the remaining knight and.

 

So, he took his Lightsaber back from her hands fiercely and when she looked at him with a puzzled look, he already shielded her from the stroke of another red saber.

 

He growled and the last knight, apparently Thraken, said: “You’ve met your match, Solo. This is going to be your death. Any last words for your Scavenger to hear?”

 

Ben knew that Thraken had a point, he was as strong as Ben, but that didn’t mean anything. He would be able to defeat Thraken, he already did back when they sparred in training.

 

He knew Thraken’s weaknesses, but he also knew Ben’s. This would be an equated battle.

 

“We can still stop this,” Ben said. “We don’t have to do this. Everybody deserves a chance and I believe…“ Thraken interrupted him.

 

“Shut up Solo. Start fighting. I won’t be turned. I’m not as weak-minded as you are, nobody will ever seduce me to the light as your scavenger did. One of us will die here, and it’ll certainly not be me.” He snarled and pushed against Ben’s Lightsaber which he was holding up to defend himself.

 

“Alright…” Ben murmured and pushed back.

 

After a few moments, Ben realized that Thraken was unfocused. When he reached out with the Force and skimmed over the surface of the knight’s thought, he could sense grief, anger and deep inside fear, not fear that he’d die because Ben killed him.

 

Fear that he’d made a mistake. That he’d chosen the wrong side, and in the end, he’d die for no reason at all.

 

Ben knew that Thraken had chosen the wrong side. But it was too late.

 

His choice was already made, as Ben, he’d given everything he had for the dark side. In contrast to Ben, he was not able, not willing to realize that his choices may could be wrong, as well as all the sacrifices he made.

 

He had nobody left to fight for, and Ben had to realize that this would’ve been him if Rey wouldn’t have been there. His light.

 

Sadly, he was aware that he’d have to kill Thraken.

 

His only childhood friend, one of the few people he’d actually ever cared about. At the realization of that, tears began to form in his eyes, and he blinked rapidly to get them out of his vision.

 

Show no weakness, no mercy. Not right now. You can grief later. Now he and Rey had to get out of here alive. Rey was the only thing that mattered right now.

 

So, he continued to fight and gained the upper hand soon.

 

 

Suddenly, Ben tripped over the dead body of one of the Knights of Ren and fell to the ground. He cursed under his breath and was about to raise to his feet again, as Thraken kicked him in the chest, he fell backwards again. Thraken was standing above him, pointing his Lightsaber at Ben’s forehead.

 

“It’s over.” Thraken said coldly. Ben trembled, sweat was running down his forehead and he closed his eyes. Maybe it really was.

 

Rey carried a little boy and a little girl in her arms.  
Both of them had thick, black hair and big ears. The boy’s eyes were green and the girl’s were brown. They had her nose and a few of her freckles. They were incredibly beautiful, they couldn’t be at a safer place than their mother’s arms. He smiled at the sight of his little family, and he knew that he was home. Truly home.

 

“Dada!” the girl squeaked and stretched her little arm out in front of her. He took one of her small hands inside of his and kissed the boy on the cheek. Rey handed him their daughter, and they smiled at each other happily as he kissed Rey on the lips softly, not without stroking her swollen belly.

 

He smiled at the thought of the dream he had some time ago. Ben knew this would never happen, because he’d die here. Still, it was nice thinking about it in his last moments –

 

“NO!” Rey screamed and pushed Thraken away from him with the Force, against the next wall. Ben collected himself again and rushed towards the knight who had just a few seconds to recover from the powerful Force-blow, but unfortunately did and raised his Lightsaber in front of him. Still, Ben didn’t feel any pain and ran his Lightsaber through Thraken’s stomach.

 

After he’d killed Thraken, he realized that his left hand and a part of his lower arm was missing. He was losing a lot of blood.  
The last thing he heard before he blacked out were Rey’s screams.


	17. Chapter 17

“Is he going to be alright?” he heard Rey asking worriedly. Her voice seemed numb and far, far away. He opened his eyes slightly. Everything was impossibly bright and white. Ben assumed that he was at a med-bay.

 

Someone was holding his hand.

 

“Rey…” he said weakly.

 

She was facing someone else, probably a doctor, but turned her head to face him swiftly.

 

“Ben! Thank the Force, you’re awake!” she said and smiled.

 

“Are you alright?” Ben asked. “Yes, I’m fine. You…Your arm…” she said sadly, and he looked at his injured arm.

 

Doctors had replaced the missing the missing limb with a mechanical arm. Of course, it had to happen to him sooner or later, deep down he’d always known. His uncle as well as his grandfather had lost one or in the case of his grandfather more limbs.

 

He didn’t really care about his arm, it was no problem to replace it these days. All that really mattered to him was that Rey was fine.

 

“It’s okay. They replaced it, so…” Ben replied and moved his mechanic arm carefully. It didn’t make a big difference. They even matched the size with his other arm and hand.  
Rey still looked at him with pity in her pretty eyes.

 

“No…Don’t. Don’t pity me. It’s fine. I’m fine. I won’t miss my real arm. It doesn’t even feel very different.” He said. Rey only nodded and tried to smile. “They are going to add synthetic skin later, so it’ll feel like real skin…” she said, and he grinned suggestively. Rey blushed slightly.

 

“What happened to Hux?” He asked, afraid what she was about to answer. If he survived or managed to flee… “I killed him. He tried to shoot you, so I killed him. I know, I should’ve tried to stun him or whatever, but I…” “No,” he interrupted her. “I would’ve killed him, too.” “Okay. Mara, she…She’s injured very badly. Sadly, Hux shot at her, too, and she didn’t have the Force to protect her. But she’ll survive…She just woke up and asked to see you…I told her that you’ll come and visit her as soon as you feel better.” Rey told him, and something like jealousy flickered across their bond.

 

Ben sat up un his bed and took her face between his hands to kiss her tenderly.

 

“You don’t have to worry. I feel nothing for her expect friendship.” He told her with a smile. She sighed in relief and kissed him again, this time more passionate. Rey buried her hands in his thick hair and Ben opened his mouth slightly to let Rey taste his tongue.

 

He sighed happily and let his natural hand wander deeper down her body in the direction of her core.

 

Suddenly, someone behind them cleared their throat behind Rey’s back.

 

They detached themselves from each other hastily and Rey turned around to see Leia standing at the threshold. They both blushed deeply, and Ben’s mother only smiled knowingly.  
“I see you feel better, Ben?” she asked with a grin. He nodded shyly. “How’s your arm?” she asked worriedly. “It’s barely a difference.” Ben raised it carefully to show her his artificial limb. Leia sighed. “What’s it with you and the other men in our family and losing their limbs? I always was glad that Han never lost one. I hoped that you’d never…Well, now it happened, and we can’t reserve it.” “Yeah. I’m just glad I didn’t die. Thanks to Rey, once again…” he replied and smiled at Rey lovingly.

 

“Yeah, what would we do without her?” Leia asked and smiled at Rey, too.

 

“So…What next?” his mother asked.

 

“I guess after I’m fully healed again, I’ll get back to the First Order. There’s a lot of stuff I’ve got to do, so…” Rey interrupted him. “What? No! You can’t just…go and leave me.” She said with fear in her eyes and Ben took her hands in his. “I’m not leaving you. Don’t forget that we’ve got the Force-bond still. I’m sure that we can figure out how to control it. And we can meet up occasionally. I just need…time. After everything is done, we’ll have a lot of time that we can spend together. I promise.” Ben said, even though it was hard to say something like that. He’d hate to be away from her. They had their bond, yes, but it was not the same as being with her in person.

 

Rey shook her head. “You know that’s not true. We can’t be without each other, even without the bond!” she protested.

 

“I’m going to let you have this conversation alone. Figure it out by yourself and tell me when you’ve decided what to do. I’m assuming you’ll stay for a few days, Ben?” Leia asked, Ben nodded and after that, she left the med-bay.

 

“Rey…”

 

“No, Ben! This is not happening! I won’t let you go! Everybody always leaves me, please don’t do the same.” She begged desperately with tears in her eyes.

 

“I would never, ever leave you, sweetheart. It would only be for a short period of time.” Ben explained and kissed her on the cheek, trying to calm her.

 

“I don’t care. I won’t let you go.” Rey said stubbornly. “I could come with you. Join you. Isn’t that what you wanted? Now I want it, too. Let’s go together.” Ben looked at her, taken aback.

 

A few months ago, he’d wanted nothing more than her to join him. Now, he wasn’t so sure about that. Of course, he would love to have her by his side. But Ben knew that Rey’s place wasn’t with the First Order. It was with the Resistance.

 

“Rey, we both know that you don’t belong with the First Order…”

 

“The only place where I belong is by your side, Ben. Isn’t that the case for you? Is this only so hard for me? If you don’t want to be with me, I…” He interrupted her by wrapping his arms around her petite form. “Rey, Rey…Don’t ever say such things again, please. You’re the most precious thing in the galaxy to me, there’s nothing that matters more to me than you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, and you can’t imagine how hard it is to go back to the First Order for me…But I have to. I am responsible for the Stormtroopers and all the other people who love under the First Order. I can’t just…Go. Believe me, I would love to run away with you and stat a new life, but I simply can’t. And I know you can’t either.”

 

He looked in her pretty green-brown eyes and wiped some tears off her cheeks.

 

“But I…Really? Do you really care for me that much?”

 

Oh, his poor Rey. She wasn’t able to trust people that easy. Her parents left her on a filthy desert planet all on her own. She’d probably never been loved that much before.

 

“Yes. I love you, Rey. I love you.” He said sincerely and kissed her again.

 

“I love you, too.” Rey whispered and he smiled as she pressed her lips against his more passionately, their tongues tangling.

 

Ben noticed how one of her hands wandered down his body, in the direction of his core. He grabbed her small hand and whispered: “Not here, sweetheart, not yet. We should wait until I’ve got my own room again. You don’t want anybody to interrupt us, right?” he said and smirked.

 

She growled, obviously annoyed and buried her hands in his black hair again. Force, he loved when she did that.

 

In the evening, as Ben laid down in his bed again, he missed Rey immediately. Women and men slept in different rooms and weren’t allowed to ‘visit’ each other. Leia wanted to make sure that everybody focused on their task which was to fight against the First Order and for the Resistance. She said that there was time for that after the war, whenever that was, and surprisingly, everyone obeyed, or were at least very careful with what they did and who could possibly see them. So, of course these rules counted for him and Rey, too. Ben would lie if he said that he wasn’t disappointed that they wouldn’t be able to spend the night together. But Ben wouldn’t dare to break his mother’s rules, after everything that happened.

 

Rey obviously had other plans.

 

He was about to doze off as someone crept under his blanket. At first, Ben was startled but realized that it was his beloved and embraced her in his arms. Rey almost purred as he stroked over her brown hair soothingly and snuggled up against to his broad chest.

 

“You know that that’s forbidden, don’t you?” Ben whispered with a smile on his lips. “Yeah. But I couldn’t sleep. I’ll leave early tomorrow so no one will notice.” Rey murmured. He nodded and felt her slipping off into sleep. His eyelids slowly became heavier, too, but he tried to take her in for some time. Moonlight illuminated her sun kissed, smooth skin and he was almost able to count her freckles. Her rosy lips full and slightly opened she snored quietly. A strand of her soft hair fell into her perfect face and he brushed it behind her ear. Rey smiled in her sleep and snuggled closer to him.

 

Ben sighed happily and finally closed his eyes, embracing the much-needed sleep waiting for him.

 

The next morning, he awoke by the sun tickling his nose. Ben growled and hid his face behind his blanket. Suddenly, he realized that it probably wasn’t early in the morning, but Rey was laying next to him still.

 

“Rey!” he called out and shook her carefully “Nooooo…I don’t wanna get up yet…Five more minutes…” she murmured into his side, holding him closer, voice heavy from sleep.

 

“No, Rey, you have to leave, or else they’ll find out you’ve been with me all night, and…” she startled awake and jolted upright in the bed they’d shared.

 

“Kriff!” Rey cursed and began to dress properly again. Ben blushed and looked away, he hadn’t even noticed that she’d taken her clothes off except her usual breast band and some shorts.

 

She noticed that and snorted. “You don’t have to look away. You’ll see me like that way more often…” she said suggestively and winked. After kissing him briefly, she left the room in a hurry, and Ben decided to take a shower.

 

Stepping out of his room, he was immediately lost. The Resistance base was bigger than he’d expected, so he decided to follow Rey’s Force signature. When he found her, she was arguing with Poe and Rose, but Finn was nowhere to be seen.

 

“There he is. How about we just ask him where you’ve been all night?” Poe asked Rey, turning to face Ben.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!  
> Omg, did you see the teaser for TROS?!! So amazing!! I'm literally so hyped!  
> Btw, so sorry that I wasn't able to upload anything, but I wasn't at home. Sadly, I wont't be able to upload a new chapter on Sunday either, but after that, everything I'm going back to updating regularly. :)
> 
> Also, I don't have any chapters in store anymore, so it could be possible that I'm not able to write that much, but I'm trying. So remember, this is only a hobby for me, I do have other things to do besides writing (sadly).


	18. Chapter 18

“Listen, Ren. Rose, Rey and I were in some kind of an argument. We were wondering where Rey spent her night. Why don’t you answer us that question?” Poe asked, obviously upset. “Good morning to you, too...” Ben murmured, barely audible.

 

“First of all, Poe, that’s none of your business! It’s ridiculous! And besides that, I’m telling you that I went outside to train very early!” Rey said, obviously enraged.

 

“You are not allowed to do what I suspect you did; you’re supposed to concentrate on more important things, Resistance things!” Poe said. “But I didn’t do anything! Ben, tell them!” suddenly the attention was back on him. “I can assure you that I didn’t see Rey until right now, good morning Rey, and spent the night all alone, terribly alone, in a cold, cold bed.” Rey giggled, Rose tried to conceal her laughter and Poe rolled his eyes.

 

 _You’re an excellent actor, Ben Solo._ Rey thought at him.

 

“I can’t believe it. Kylo Ren just joked about something.” Poe said. Ben smirked and shrugged.

 

“All jokes aside Poe, she wasn’t with me. I promise. But besides that, you can’t tell me that you don’t share a bed with Finn. Honestly, who are you trying to hide it from? I’m not judging.”

 

Rey began to giggle again, thinking it was a joke, but after some time she realized that it wasn’t. Poe blushed slightly.

 

“Poe…You and…Finn? Why didn’t you tell me? I thought we were friends!” Rey said, a little shocked. “That’s…That’s not fair, Solo! I…Rey…You…We weren’t talking about me and Finn.” Poe stuttered at a loss for words.

 

“So it’s true? You’re together?” “We…I guess…” “Congratulations!” Rey said and hugged him, and Ben looked away, clenching his fists.

 

Ben hated it when she hugged other men, even though Ben knew that Rey would never betray him. He was also aware that it’d only annoy her and that she’d feel like Ben didn’t trust her if he told her that he hated it when she touched other men. But Ben definitely trusted her.

 

 _Don’t think things like that. I can hear your thoughts, you know._ Rey said inside of his head.

 

_I love you. Don’t ever forget that. You’ll never lose me. Ever._

_I love you, too, Rey._

They smiled at each other lovingly and Poe looked back and forth between the two, confused.

 

“What’s going on? Why are you smiling?” Poe asked curiously. They didn’t give him an answer and only shrugged.

 

“I’ll keep an eye on you two.” Poe said and walked away.

 

Rose was about to follow him when she stopped again, turned around and said: “Just so you know…Rey, I saw you coming out of Solo’s room this morning. I won’t tell them. Don’t worry.” “Are you coming, Rose?” they heard Poe asking. “Yeah, coming!” she said and grinned.

 

When she was gone, Ben told Rey: “We have to be more careful the next time. Actually, it would be better if you don’t come over, if they catch one of us…” Rey snorted.

 

“Of course, I’m going to come over. And don’t worry. They won’t catch me. This rule is stupid either, I mean how old are we? I think we’re old enough to decide who we want to spend the night with.” She said stubbornly.

 

“I kind of understand Leia, you know. We should concentrate on Resistance business. Or you, at least. I agree, though. I don’t want to spend one more night without you.” Ben said and smiled.

 

“Agreed.” Rey said and kissed him softly, and way to short for Ben’s taste.

 

“So…Do you want to eat breakfast? It’s not great, but it’s something to eat at least.” “Sure. I’m hungry like a wolf.” He said and laid one arm around her as they walked in the direction of the canteen.

 

After they had breakfast, they went outside to talk. When they’d walked a little through the forest, the two sat down on a big rock, covered in moss. It was surprisingly soft.

 

Ben took Rey’s small hands in his tall ones and looked her deeply in the eyes, feeling her emotions through their bond. There was fear, hope, confusion, sadness, but all present was her love for him, which he still didn’t understand. How could such a precious young woman fall for someone like him? How did he deserve her?

 

“Stop thinking that.” She said and bend forward to kiss him on the cheek, the one with the scar on. Ben blushed and looked down at their intertwined hands.

 

“So…” Rey begun, “What’s next?” she asked. Ben shrugged. “I don’t know…I was so sure that going back to the First Order was the right thing to do, but now…It’s just…I don’t want to go. I want to stay with you. But that’s not possible, because I have to lead the First Order, and…”

 

“Who says that you have to do it? Maybe someone else could?” Ben frowned.

 

“And who would that be? No, I don’t want to risk anything. I’m the connection between the Resistance and the First Order. Without me…Everything would be out of control and I can’t let that happen.” He sighed.

 

“But you don’t want to be the Supreme Leader again?” Rey asked him curiously. Ben shook his head.

 

“Of course not. But sometimes in life…We have to do things that we don’t want to do. I would love nothing more than to run away with you and start a new life on another planet, but that’s simply not possible right now. It’s unrealistic. Besides that, I promised the Stormtroopers better conditions, who assures me that they really live a better life under a new leader.”

 

Rey nodded understandingly. “I understand.” She said.

 

“Do you really, though?” he asked her, noticing that she was avoiding his gaze.

 

“Yes…But…I can’t let you go. Please, stay.” Rey said, tears beginning to form in her eyes. Ben embraced her again tightly and stroked over her back, having to fight back his own tears.

 

She was sobbing against his chest and it was heart breaking. “Shhh…” he whispered, trying to calm her down again.

 

“What are you afraid of? We still have our bond. I feel it growing stronger each day.” Ben asked softly. “I…I’m afraid that you’ll leave and never come back, like my parents! I don’t ever want to lose anyone again. Please, Ben. Stay. Stay.”

 

_Rey was a little girl, and she found an old AT-AT, making it her home. The only thing she wanted was someone. Someone to talk or play with._

_She was a little girl, and she asked herself again and again what she’d done wrong. Maybe Rey deserved to be left alone on Jakku. Maybe she was a bad child. How did she deserve this?_

_All that Rey wanted was to be normal. She even crafted a little doll for herself and played with an old Rebellion pilot’s helmet that she found, trying to be a child. Her childhood was taken away from her way too fast._

_After a little while, everything that mattered was surviving._

_After some time on Jakku, a boy had begun to appear in her dreams. He was weird looking: Lanky, big ears and nose, a long face, framed by raven black waves. Rey noticed that he looked sad, but always when she’d tried to ask him why he was sad, he was already gone. The strange boy had become her spark of hope. Her friend. As she grew older, she had imagined that this boy would eventually come and save her, take her with him, away from Jakku, even though she also didn’t want to leave Jakku, because Rey still hoped that her parents would come back for her._

_As the years passed by, the boy slowly faded away from her memories and dreams and in the end, he’d been nothing more than a shadow in the back of her head._

“That was you? All the time?” Rey whispered. He nodded.

 

“I felt you, too. For the first time when you were born. I was only ten, but I felt an awakening in the Force, a light, warming me from the inside. I saw you in my dreams, too, and I felt how lonely and helpless you were, I wanted to save you. But I didn’t know where you were.”

 

Ben saw it all. Her suffering, her loneliness, her desperation. He already knew that he would not be able to leave. Not now, not ever. And she felt it through the bond.

 

Rey looked up at him again. “You…Won’t leave?” he shook his head. “No, sweetheart…I’ll stay. We’ll find another solution.” “Thank you, thank you.” She said in relief and hugged him even tighter. Ben buried his face in her hazel hair and inhaled the scent of hers. They stayed like that for a few minutes, just listening to each other’s heartbeat.

 

“By the way, don’t you need a lightsaber? I could help you construct one. If you want to.” Rey looked up at him and smiled. “Yes! I’d love that!”

 

He would get to be her _teacher_ , Ben realized. Following his train of thought, Rey grinned and raised her eyebrows. “What, do you want to be my _master_ , Ben?” she teased, and he began to tickle her, and Ben found out that Rey was very ticklish.

 

She giggled and fell down on her back. “Ben! Stop!” she said, and Ben did as he was told, hovering above her.

 

She looked beautiful, sprawled out beneath him, and he didn’t resist the urge to kiss her passionately.

Damn, he would never get tired of this. Her hands were in his hair and his hands wandered up and down her slim form.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!  
> From now on, I'll try to update regularly again, even though I can't promise anything.   
> See you on Sunday!


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Smut alert ;)

“I want you,” Rey whispered in his ear.

 

“Right now.” He groaned throatily as she began to kiss his neck, nibbling at his skin and marking him with her lips.

 

Rey began to unbuckle his belt when he stopped her.

 

“Wait. I want to give you something back.”

 

Ben said and smirked at her suggestively. She nodded shyly, knowing what he was talking about.

 

Ben kissed her on the cheek soothingly, before he carefully freed her of her pants. He gulped when he noticed how wet she already for him.

 

Looking up, Ben realized that her cheeks reddened even more, she was breathing rapidly, and he felt…fear. Embarrassment.

 

“Are you…Okay with this? We don’t have to do anything that you don’t feel comfortable with…” he said worriedly.

 

“Yes…I just…I never…” “That’s okay. I didn’t sleep with anyone before either. We’re going to…Take our time.” Rey raised her eyebrows. “What? You’ve never…I thought you were…” he interrupted her, blushing. “We’ll have this conversation another time, alright?” She nodded. “I’m glad, you know.” Rey noted and Ben felt that she was way more comfortable, now that he’d told her that he hadn’t been with another woman before her.

 

He tried to collect himself again. “I…Can you tell me what you like? Please?” she nodded eagerly and noticed that the tips of his adorable ears were slightly reddened.

 

His hands were shaking a little when he finally pulled down her panties, slowly.

 

Ben only stared at her in awe for a few moments, and she suppressed the urge to close her legs.

 

“Can you please…Not stare at me like that?” he looked up at her and said: “But you’re…So beautiful.” Rey snorted.

 

He hesitated for a second, but then, the hot mouth of his found her core.

 

Ben looked up at her, obviously asking for permission again, which she confirmed eagerly nodding.

 

With that, he hesitated no more.

 

Ben pressed his full lips immediately on her entrance and she moaned, loudly.

 

“ _Fuck_.” She whispered and bit down on her lower lip.

 

Ben smirked proudly and dipped his tongue inside of her, making her moan even louder.

 

She tasted spicy but sweet, like green forest and something Ben couldn’t define. It was something he hadn’t tasted before, but he already knew that he was addicted to her taste. Ben licked eagerly, trying to taste as much of her essence as possible.

 

He only noticed vaguely that she arched her back and pressed her core into his face.

 

Ben pulled away from her entrance, giving her cunt a slow, torturing long lick, and it seemed like he hit a sensitive spot, because she almost sobbed and called out his name louder and louder. He figured that she enjoyed what he was doing and sucked on her little bundle of nerves, hard.

 

She almost jolted up when he pressed a long finger inside of her and began to move slowly, while continuing to suck on her clit.

 

“Ben! Please!” she almost screamed.

 

“Is it alright like that?” he asked, voice muffled by her cunt.

 

“What? I mean…Yes! Yes! Please…don’t stop…” Rey moaned, and he did, too. Feeling her tight walls around his finger was so good, and she was so tight, he didn’t know what would happen if…Oh Force. He almost came in his pants of being truly inside of her.

 

She sensed his thoughts and groaned. “Ben, I need you inside me, now. Please…” She begged and he would’ve loved nothing more, but it just didn’t feel right. Ben knew that he wanted to take her in a real bed, not on some rock.

 

So, instead of doing that, he buried a second finger inside of her, already feeling her stretch around his long fingers.  
He increased the speed of his fingers and suddenly, Ben felt that Rey’s walls were beginning to shudder, clench and unclench around his fingers.

 

“What? What’s that?” he asked worriedly, afraid that he’d done something wrong and stopped moving his fingers and sucking on her clit.

 

“Ben, no! Don’t stop, don’t stop! I think…I’m…I’m…” So, Ben continued as she trembled and shuddered uncontrollably as she came, hard. That was when he realized what had happened.

 

He continued to thrust his fingers inside of her for a few more seconds until she came down from her orgasm.

 

Rey’s body softened and he felt that she was unbelievably calm.

 

He pulled her pants and panties up again carefully and embraced her in his arms. Ben kissed her, and he was aware that he was able to taste herself on his lips.

 

“That was…wonderful. Thank you, Ben.” As an answer he only kissed her hair lovingly and inhaled her scent once again.

 

“I’m sorry…I was supposed to tell you what I liked and I…Just forgot. I should have told you…” “I think I found out perfectly fine by myself.” He said, smirked and Rey giggled, blushing.

 

Ben was about to close his eyes and doze off in her arms when she suddenly jolted up. “But…What about you? You didn’t?” Rey said and he pushed her down carefully again.

 

“Doesn’t matter.” He murmured and drifted off into sleep.

 

Ben woke up by someone clumsily unbuckling his belt and carefully and pulling his pants down.

 

His eyes flew open as she took his still half hard length into her small hand.

 

“Wait! You don’t have to…Oh Force.” She grinned up at him, having begun to stroke up and down his cock, again noticing that the tips of his ears were colored in a light pink.

 

Rey decided to keep this image of him looking at her, lips full and red and rosy, eyes completely darkened by his arousal, panting and hair falling in his face forever in her mind.

 

He looked…Beautiful.

 

She focused her attention back on his core, wondering how he’d ever fit inside her. Ben seemed to her thoughts, because he moaned deep and throatily and said: “Damn, Rey. Don’t think of things like that…I won’t last long if you…” he was interrupted by her kissing the tip of his cock and swallowing his pre-cum.

 

He groaned her name over and over again when she continued to lick up and down the rigid length of his until finally taking him into her mouth and sucking.

 

She couldn’t take him completely without gagging, so she decided to add her fist once again. Ben at the same time was a mess beneath her and her hot mouth, his body writhing beneath her touch.

 

She looked up at him and he down at her, and it was only the image of Rey sucking his cock that it took to make him cum.

 

She swallowed everything and licked her lips.

 

He gulped and hid his eyes behind his hand. “I’m sorry…” He murmured.

 

“What? Why?” she asked, obviously confused.

 

“I came so fast… I’m sorry that you had to… Swallow it…You really didn’t need to do anything of what you did, it would have been okay if…” Rey took Ben’s hand away from his face and kissed his lips to comfort him.  
“There is no need to be embarrassed, Ben. I really liked it. Believe me, if I wouldn’t have liked it, I’d just have spitted it out. It didn’t taste bad, actually.” “Really?” he asked, and she nodded. “Why are you so insecure?” Rey asked him. “We’ve both never done this before, there’s no need to be embarrassed of anything with me.” She reassured.

 

“I don’t know…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...This is the first smut I've ever written! I don't really know if I'm happy with it. Well, it's pretty vanilla. Let me know what you think about it.  
> Thank you so much for reading!  
> See you next Thursday!


	20. Chapter 20

_The other children, back when I was a little kid, always used to bully me very badly because of my look._

_I_ _t didn’t get any better when I was training with Luke. They didn’t say it to my face, like the other children did when I was younger. They talked about me behind my back. Not only because I looked weird, but because of the way I acted, where I came from, how I didn’t really have any friends…I sensed their thoughts and feelings towards me and it hurt, even though they never said anything._

_But it weren’t only the children, but the adults, too. They also talked about me, but the worst thing was that my parents…They were almost afraid of me. Because of my powers. They also never talked with me about it, which probably would’ve helped. It hurt._

_Once, I overheard them talking about me and my father said how…different I was from the other kids and that he wished I was more like them…_

 

_My mother she…Was much more loving but she feared that I would fall for the dark side like my grandfather, so she sent me away to train with Luke and I felt…Abandoned. And alone._

 

_Made me feel extremely insecure about myself because I felt like everything I did was wrong. And you can’t deny that I look strange. I’m not as handsome as the other men, like Finn or Poe._

 

It was way easier to talk to her through their bond than really talking.

 

_Oh no…That’s so sad, Ben…_

She thought and caressed his face, ran her fingers through his thick hair.

 

_You know, I guess one thing that is good about growing up on Jakku is that you don’t get insecure about how you look. That just doesn’t matter._

_But Ben, please know that you’re really, really handsome. Not handsome in a way like Poe and Finn, you’re right. Because they are conventionally attractive, and you’re not. That’s what makes you so appealing to me. You’re different, yes, but in a good way. You’re extremely tall, you have very beautiful hair, I love your eyes because they mirror all your emotions. You have very nice lips, they’re full and rosy and I never want to stop kissing them. And your ears…I know you don’t like them, but I like them a lot. They suit you. I can’t imagine you without them._

“I told you not to say such things…They embarrass me.” Ben said, blushing again.

 

“Well, you’ll have to get used to me complimenting you.” Rey grinned and he began to tickle her again.

 

 

Back at the Resistance base, Finn and Leia were already awaiting them.

 

“Now, where have you two been?” the General asked and raised and eyebrow.

 

“Outside.” Ben said, and Rey added: “We needed to talk. About what’s going to happen next, you know.”

 

“And? What is going to happen next?” Leia asked.

 

“I…Actually…Rey convinced me to stay. I’ll not go back to the First Order. And we’ll find another solution.” Ben said.

 

“Are you sure? Rey could come with you, if you don’t want to leave her here. Nobody is holding you back.”

 

“We’ll find a solution that makes us all happy.” The young Jedi said.

 

 _I hope._ She added in thought, Ben heard it and thought at her: _I’m sure we will. I know it._

Rey smiled at Ben and Leia and Finn were confused once again.

 

“Well, I guess I’ll have to leave you three now. Maybe you should begin to think about what you do with the First Order.”

 

“Yeah, we probably should do that.” Ben answered.

 

 _Let’s do it in your bedroom._ Rey grinned suggestively and he snorted.

“Uhm…Solo? Could I talk to you for a second? Alone?” Finn asked suddenly, they had completely forgotten that he was there.

 

“Sure…?” Ben said and followed Rey’s best friend in another room.

 

“So? What is it?” he asked Finn.

 

“I…Uhm…I wanted to thank you for…Well, saving my life. I wasn’t able to do it properly back then and I just wanted to…Offer peace? Kind of? I’m still not sure if I can trust you, or if I like you, but you seem to be alright. Rey likes you. A lot. And she doesn’t like anyone without a reason. You’re a lucky man. But I swear, if you ever hurt her in any way…”

 

Ben interrupted him. “I would rather die than to hurt her.” Finn nodded.

 

“Good…So…Peace?”

 

“Peace?”

 

“Good to know, man.”

 

When he was back with Rey again, she gave him a questioning look.

 

_What did you two talk about?_

_About peace. Between him and me._

_That’s…Great! Why did he change his mind so fast?_

_I kind of…Saved him. He was thankful for that so…Yeah._

Rey didn’t ask any more questions and he felt that she was very happy and relieved.

 

Rey and Ben decided to spar while Finn went on with his day.

 

It helped both of them to clear their minds.

 

Because they both weren’t able to use their lightsabers, because Ben’s was confiscated and Rey’s broken, they fought with wooden sticks, and Rey had to realize that Ben, now at his full strength, was a little stronger than she was. It had been different when he’d had a gaping hole in his side, bleeding out.

 

But that was no reason for her to give up.

 

Ben was stronger, yes, but she was faster and more flexible, not weak at all. A lot of people had underestimated her on Jakku. Ben of course knew how strong she was and didn’t make the same mistake.

 

They fought on and on, and both were not willing to give up, even though their legs and arms were slowly beginning to ache.

 

Rey embraced the ache of her limbs, she’d missed the way it felt when she exhausted herself completely. Sweat blurred her vision and his, too. She didn’t make the mistake of wiping the sweat off her forehead, but Ben did, and this short moment of distraction was enough for her to knocked him down.

 

Rey said on top of his tall frame and smirked down on him. “That’s one of the things Jakku taught me. Never take a moment to wipe sweat away. It’ll make you vulnerable.” She said triumphantly before kissing him.

 

“Do you surrender?” she asked.

 

“Never.” He whispered and while she still wondered what he meant, he’d already turned them around, so he was on top of her, holding her down with his weight.

 

Now Rey knew that she had no chance anymore, except if she had kicked him in the groin, but she had to intent of doing that and Ben was too heavy for her just to shove him off her.

 

“What about now?” he whispered into her ear and kissed her neck.

 

“I surrender,”

 

_That’s what I wanted to hear._

 

Ben smirked and continued to kiss her body, and she moaned happily.

 

Someone cleared his throat and they detached themselves from each other hastily.

 

Poe was standing in the threshold, looking down on both of them.

 

“What the _hell_ are you doing here?” Rey asked, rising to her feet.

 

“You never go here to train. Have you been following me around?”

 

“I could ask you the same thing! And no, I’ve not been following you, I was simply here to train. You can’t blame me for anything. You’re the ones making out here. Damn, just get yourselves a room.” Poe replied, extremely annoyed. Ben hurried to follow an enraged Rey out of the room.

 

“How dare he?!”

 

Ben came to a halt and Rey turned around to face him.

 

“What do you mean, ‘How dare he’? Rey, you really can’t blame him for wanting to train…”

 

“He’s following me around one hundred percent!” she said angrily.

 

“Rey, calm down…I don’t think he’s following you. Honestly. He didn’t even say anything, just told us to get a room, which…Well, he isn’t wrong.” Ben told her.

 

Rey sighed. “You’re right. I just…”

 

“What’s wrong with you? You weren’t that upset before.” Ben asked worriedly.

 

She took his hand and he followed her to her room, and they sat down on her bed.

 

“Out with it.” Ben said, laying an arm around her shoulders.

 

“I am worried, Ben.” She said.

 

“About what?”

 

“About what we’re going to do next.”

 

“We’re going to find a solution. I’m sure.” Ben assured her, and maybe a little bit himself.

 

After a short silence, she replied: “I think you should go, Ben. You’re right. We have the Force bond, we’ll work it out somehow. You were right.” It cost her quite an effort to say these words, and he noticed that. Ben embraced her in a tight, comforting hug, and she began to sob immediately.

 

“I won’t leave you, Rey.” He whispered and felt her smiling, before she pushed him down on the mattress.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!   
> See you next Sunday :)


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They finally do it ;)   
> The whole chapter is basically smut, so if you're not into that, just skip it. :)   
> NSFW!

She sat on top of him, straddling him with her legs, looking down on him proudly before bending down to kiss him on his soft lips.

 

His tongue begged for entrance into her mouth and she allowed it, their tongues twirling in a fight nobody would ever win.

 

Rey’s hands were in his hair once again, and Ben’s on her hips, holding on tightly.

 

He hissed as she pressed her warm core against his. Without hesitation, she took off her shirt and breast band in one swift motion and he gulped, seeing her pretty small breasts for the first time.

 

They were even more beautiful than he’d imagined them, her skin was almost glowing and tanned by the sun of Jakku, and Ben realized that Rey was perfect, just perfect. Alright, he’d already known that when he first laid eyes on her in the forest of Takodana.

 

She smirked down on him.

 

“Can I…?” Ben asked, not sure if he’d be allowed to touch her.

Rey didn’t answer, but instead took one large hand of his and placed it on herself.

 

Ben was fascinated by the fact that his hand was able to cover her whole breast.

 

He stroked over it carefully, scared that he’d hurt her. She seemed to have other plans and laid her hand on his, showing him what she wanted.

Ben did as he was taught and kneaded her breast, carefully at the beginning but a little more forceful when Rey began to moan and arch under his touch. Force, he loved when she reacted to him like that.

 

Suddenly, she pulled his face towards her other breast and Ben understood what he was supposed to do.

 

He again began to kiss her carefully, but then took her nipple into her mouth, sucking and kissing, his actions supported by her moans. Rey tried to take off his shirt and he helped her.

 

She looked at him for a few moments and began to kiss his chest.

 

Rey had seen his naked chest before, but back then, it had been a rather uncomfortable situation, and she’d always pushed back the urge to look down on his chest. She knew that he was muscular, she’d always known, but seeing him like that, so close…It did something to her.

 

Rey decided to take off her pants, and his, too.

 

Suddenly, she was able to feel his length so, so close to her and only a little fabric separated them from each other, and she felt exactly how hard he was for her, and he felt how wet she was for him.

 

“Are you sure about this, Rey? You know we don’t have to do this, right?”

 

“Shut up and fuck me already.” Rey said and Ben smirked. He loved that side of hers, and he was just about to get to know that side better.

 

He decided to turn them around, so she was on her back and Ben was hovering above her.

 

He didn’t want her to wait anymore, so he pushed down her panties and began to rub her clit with his thumb in little circles.

 

Rey seemed to enjoy it, so he increased the speed a little bit, but then decided to push a finger into her wet folds.

 

Ben had heard that a woman needed to be prepared, but he still wasn’t sure if he was doing everything right or if…

 

“Damn it, stop thinking so much, Ben! I’m not that delicate, I’ll tell you if something makes me feel uncomfortable.” Rey reassured him.

 

_Okay._

So, he pulled down his own underpants, hands shaking a little bit. Ben was sure he hadn’t been this nervous in his life before.

 

Ben skimmed the surface of Rey’s thoughts and was relieved when he felt that she also was very nervous.

 

He had never been naked with another woman before, and he was insecure about he looked, if she thought that he was unappealing or…

 

_You look gorgeous, Ben Solo._

 

Rey said before taking his cock into her hand and stroking up and down. Ben gasped.

 

He didn’t know where he took the confidence from, but he decided to push into her, _truly_ inside if her.

 

Rey gasped, obviously surprised, but biting her lip and smirking in the next moment.

 

This was too much. He was inside of her. He was feeling her wet walls around him and…It felt incredible. Ben didn’t know any feeling that was as good as this, now that they were truly connected.

 

But the scary thing was: Ben felt exactly what Rey was feeling at this moment. He felt the way he stretched her, the way how it felt to be filled completely. But he also felt a sharp again.

 

“Does it hurt?” Ben asked worriedly.

 

“Yes, a little…But I heard that’s normal, and you’re so big…” Rey said, boosting his ego up to heights he didn’t even know existed.

 

“Should I move?”

 

She nodded. “But please, a little slower at the beginning, okay?” Ben nodded and began to thrust into her as slow as he could.

 

“ _Fuck_. Rey, Force, Rey…” Ben moaned, and he felt that she was beginning to enjoy it, too. Even though it still hurt.

 

Rey had never felt anything like that before.

 

She felt completely full and the feeling of how he was stretching her…He was big, very big, and it hurt, she would actually have appreciated it if he’d have been a bit smaller.

 

She was torn between pain and pleasure, and it was a dangerous mix. Rey instructed him to go faster again, hoping that it would hurt less, and indeed, her body was getting used to him being inside of her and she began to moan.

 

“Ben…” Rey moaned and scratched her fingernails across his back, for sure drawing some blood.

 

“Rey…I’m sorry, but I think I will…” He murmured, followed by another throatily groan of his.

 

“Come for me, Ben.” She whispered in his ear and he began to pound into her in a faster and faster pace, not able to control himself anymore.

 

They moaned together, so loudly Ben figured that the whole base would be able to hear them, but there was nothing he cared less about that moment.

 

He came with a loud moan, spending himself into her tight cunt, panting uncontrollably.

 

Ben blushed, and before she was able to ask him why he was embarrassed, he was already sucking on her clit.

-

When she came down from her climax, Ben embraced her in his arms, and they enjoyed the calm of their afterglow together.

“That was amazing, Ben. I…Ben?”

 

But he had already fallen asleep.

 

Ben once again woke up first, shielding his eyes from the sun falling into Rey’s small room.

 

Wait. Rey’s room? Right…They’d obviously both fallen asleep after what happened between them.

 

Only the thought of being inside of her…Ben should not think about it, or he’d have a problem in his…Well, he was wearing no pants.

 

Ben took in the beautiful sight of the petite woman in his arms, still sleeping and snoring quietly.

 

Suddenly, he realized that he was laying in something wet. Ben grimaced, acknowledging that he’d slept in their body fluids for the whole night.

 

Great. He really needed a shower, but Rey was holding on so to him so tightly, he knew that he would not be able to get out of bed without her waking up, and he figured that it was time to get either.

 

So, he woke up Rey by kissing her tenderly, and after she only smiled and snuggled closer, he shook her carefully.

 

“Rey? I would love to get up and take a shower, honestly.” Ben said quietly and she murmured something but let him go.

 

Before stepping into the ‘fresher, he turned around to look at his Rey again, he realized that there was blood on their shared mattress.

 

“Oh, hell! Rey?! Are you alright? Did I hurt you? I’m so, so sorry, I didn’t mean to, I think I wasn’t careful enough…” he said, already panicking.

 

Rey rubbed her eyes and yawned, sitting up in bed, looking at him, confused.

 

“What? What happened?” Rey asked.

 

“There…There’s blood! On the mattress! I’m so sorry…Should we go see a doctor? What if I injured you badly?”

 

She stood up and hugged him tightly.

 

“Honey. It’s normal when a woman sleeps with someone for the first time that she bleeds a little. Calm down. Everything’s fine.”

 

Ben sighed in relief. “Thank the Force. I already thought…” They stayed silent for a few minutes, but then Ben asked: “Honey? Since when do you call me honey?” Rey snorted.

 

“It was a joke. Do you like it, though?” Ben thought about it for a moment.

 

“My parents always gave each other nicknames. My father he…I remember him calling my mother sweetheart. I kind of like it.”

 

“What, sweetheart? Alright, sweetheart. Are you coming, sweetheart? I really feel like taking a shower, sweetheart.” Ben snorted and rolled his eyes.

“I don’t know what to think about the sweetheart part, but I like the idea of taking a shower.” “Join me.” Rey said and they both laughed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading?   
> So what do you think? Like I said, I'm not very good at writing smut, it's pretty vanilla. I'm still practising!  
> See you next Thursday!


	22. Chapter 22

When they both were properly dressed again, the two decided that it would be a good idea to start building Rey’s new lightsaber.

 

Because the kyber crystal of Luke’s old lightsaber was cracked in two, Ben explained to Rey that it would be better to construct a double-bladed lightsaber. Rey agreed, having in mind that she was used to fighting with a staff either.

 

First of all, Rey would have to meditate for a period of time with the two crystals in her hands before she would be able to use them.

 

So, Ben had some time on his own to think.

 

Suddenly, he remembered that Mara was still in the Med-bay, completely alone and without someone who’d visit her. He totally forgot that she was still there. So, Ben raised to his feet and hurried to get to Mara.

 

He had to talk to her.

 

When he was about to head into the room where she was treated, a medical droid stepped in his way.

 

“Excuse me, Sir, but Miss Mara is still in a bad condition, she’s still healing. It wouldn’t be good for her health if…”

 

“Who’s there?” Mara asked from behind the droid, probably laying on her bed.

 

“It’s me, Mara! I wanted to pay you a visit…But this stupid droid won’t let me…” Ben tried to peak over the droid’s shoulder, but it blocked the view.

 

“I wondered when you’d come to see me. ME, would you please let him in?”

 

“But your condition…”

 

“Is far better than you say. You’re overexaggerating, Emm-E.”

 

“Alright, but if your health gets worth…”

 

“It won’t. Now let him in, please?” Mara ordered.

 

The droid finally stepped aside, and Ben walked towards Mara’s bed, smiling at her sadly. He sat down at the edge of her bed.

 

“I’m sorry I didn’t visit you earlier, but there were so many things that happened and I…” Mara laid her hand on his arm soothingly.

 

“It doesn’t matter. You’re here now…” Ben nodded and cleared his throat.

 

“Listen, Mara. I need to ask you something. This may be a bit sudden, but I know how invested you are in the future of the First Order and the Stormtroopers. I know I am supposed to be the Supreme Leader right now, but…” Ben took a deep breath and Mara’s eyes grew wider and wider.

 

“I think you should be that. The Supreme Leader I mean. It’s perfect for you…You’re a better leader than I am, you’re so…Passionate about everything.”

 

“But…Why?” Mara asked after a short pause.

 

“Because…I can’t be the Supreme Leader. I can’t. I’m not able or willing to leave and I…”

 

Mara interrupted him. “Is it because of the girl?” Ben nodded.

 

“I can’t leave her here. She had a…Tough childhood and she’s afraid of people leaving her, it’s Rey’s greatest fear that I’ll leave her and never come back. And actually…I don’t want to go. I don’t want to live without her. I can’t. I’m sorry.”

 

“But…I can’t! I’m only a Stormtrooper, not the Supreme Leader! I highly doubt that I’m qualified, and I have no experience…”

 

“You don’t have more experience than I had when I became the Supreme Leader. And besides that, you’re one hundred percent qualified. Remember? You started the rebellion of the Stormtroopers! Without you, I wouldn’t be sitting here. I’m begging you, please do it. You’re my only hope.”

 

Mara sighed and said: “Yes. I’ll do it.”

 

“Yes! Thank you so much!” Ben said and hugged her, which he didn’t do often, hardly ever. Except with Rey.

 

“Alright, alright. You’re crushing me. Remember? I’m still injured.” Mara murmured despite smiling.

 

“I’m sorry.” He let go of her and smiled but grew serious again.

 

“But Mara…Can you do one thing for me when you’re the Supreme Leader? I mean, you already are, but…”

 

“Of course. You’re my Supreme Leader and you always will be.” Ben nodded.

 

“Please…Negotiate with the Resistance. If you work together, it’ll be a lot easier. And there probably will be a lot less rebellion. I’m not asking you to start another Republic, but…”

 

Mara calmed him down. “Don’t worry. I was about to do that either.”

 

They smiled again and ME came into the room again.

 

“Now, I think you’ve really talked enough! The patient still needs rest! Out with you!” it said, and Ben obeyed for once, waving at Mara.

 

Ben was on his way back to Rey when someone held him back on his arm.

 

“Ben? Did you visit Mara?” Leia asked.

 

“Yes, we talked. I…Asked her to be the new Supreme Leader of the First Order and she…She’ll do it. I’m free.”

 

Leia came forward and hugged her son.

 

“So, you indeed did find a solution. I’m so proud of you.”

 

“Thank you.”

 

The General let go of Ben again.

 

“You really love Rey, don’t you?” Leia asked, and Ben realized that her eyes were a little wet.

 

“Of course I do.”

 

 

A few hours later, Rey opened her eyes again, only to look into Ben’s pretty brown ones who was sitting in front of her, smiling.

 

“Are you done?” he asked, taking her hands in his.

 

“Yes, I think so.” Rey said, looking at him a little puzzled as to why he was so happy.

 

“Great. So now we have to construct the hilt. I actually think you’ll be pretty good at it. But before you begin…I have something to tell you.” Ben smiled even brighter.

 

“Yes? What is it?”

 

“I…asked Mara to be the Supreme Leader of the First Order.”

 

“What?” Rey asked, mouth hanging wide open. He nodded.

 

“I won’t ever go back.”

 

“Thank you.” She murmured before kissing him and burying her face in his neck.

 

_I love you. I love you so much._

 

_I love you too, Rey._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!  
> So, this is the second to last chapter. I'll upload the next chapter on Sunday, because I don't have much time at the moment, and I don't want the last chapter to be rushed.  
> See you next Sunday.


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...This is the last chapter! Enjoy!

_-Nine months later-_

Rey was looking out of one of the huge windows in the house they lived in.

 

She loved Naboo. It was lush and green and full of kind people. They lived in one of Princess Amidala’s old mansions.

 

Rey stroked over her swollen belly and smiled to herself.

 

Shortly after Ben had decided to leave the First Order for good, Rey had found out that she was pregnant. They’d known that they were going to keep the baby, and because of that, they needed a place to, as they later found out, twins. The Resistance base wasn’t a really good place for children to grow up.

 

Besides that, Ben didn’t really want to stay with the Resistance and they both knew that it would be better for everyone if they lived on another planet.

 

They had chosen Naboo, not only because it was a beautiful planet, but also because Ben’s grandmother had been the queen of Naboo a long time ago, and they had a pretty house with some land that still belonged to Leia.  

 

The cities that they had visited were beautiful, and the people were kind, welcoming and respectful, even though they of course new what Ben had done in the past. Still, they accepted him and treated Rey very lovingly.

 

They had moved to Naboo pretty fast, because Rey had already been pregnant for some time and they wanted to settle in on their new home planet.

 

Now, Rey could be in labor every second and her belly was so big, she was so big, she wasn’t even able to tie her shoes anymore (which of course, Ben loved to do for her).

 

She enjoyed being pregnant, but she was very much looking towards being free again and to be able to move properly again to train.

 

At the beginning, Rey had insisted to at least do some workout, because there was sport that was suitable for pregnant women, but Ben had been so scared that she could hurt herself or the babies, so she’d stopped working out to calm him down.

 

Ben was very protective, and Rey thought that it was very sweet, but as someone who’d always taken care of herself, it was difficult to let someone help her with almost everything.

 

He even went so far to carry her up the steps because it was tiring for her.

 

Rey had told him a million times that he didn’t need to do that, but he picked her up either way. And who was she to complain?

 

The young woman was already able to feel the babies, a boy and a girl. They were extremely strong in the Force, which was no surprise, their parents were the most powerful Force-sensitives in the whole galaxy. But the scary thing was that Rey was already able to feel their character traits.

 

Their girl was very much like her father. Sensitive and vulnerable, Rey was almost able to hear her whimper when Rey made a movement too sudden or once when she and Ben fought about something unnecessary.

 

They didn’t fight again after that.

But the girl was also very lovely and sweet, Rey already knew that she’d be able to get everything she wanted just by looking at someone, but she also needed much attention and care.

 

Their boy was very forceful and had a hot temper, also very much like his father. He was probably the one of the two who was more difficult to handle, but he was very calm when both of his parents were there to soothe him, and he was smart, very smart and a real charmer.

 

Rey couldn’t wait to see them and to finally hold them in her arms.

 

But on the other hand…She was afraid. Afraid that she wouldn’t be a good mother or that something would happen to one of her babies. Rey already loved them so much, she didn’t know what would happen if they’d get hurt or sick or worse…

 

“Hey, sweetheart. What are you thinking about?” As if he didn’t know.

 

Ben laid his arms around her waist from behind and buried his face in her soft hair, inhaling her scent.

 

“I’m just a little worried…”

 

“That you’re not going to be a good mother? Rey, you know that’s not true. You’ll be an amazing mommy; you’ll make everything right that your parents did wrong. I feel how much you love them. You could never be bad mom.”

 

Rey turned around in his embrace to see his face.

 

 

“And you’ll be an amazing father. We can both learn from the mistakes our parents made.”

 

She saw pain flicker in his eyes, and she smiled up at him and kissed his lips, tiptoeing to reach him.

 

Suddenly, a sharp pain jolted through her.

-

“Force, make it stop!”

 

“Shut up, Ben! I’m trying to give birth here!”

 

Ben was sitting next to her bed, holding her hand and he felt like she was crushing it.

 

A droid was standing between her spread legs, advising her to breathe and to push, she was sweating horribly, and Ben was panicking.

 

He was able to feel everything through their bond.

 

When another labor pain hit her, Ben screamed: “This can’t be normal! Do something against it, she’s hurting! Make it stop!”

 

“I’m assuring you, everything’s fine, master Solo. The pain is perfectly normal.” The medical droid told Rey’s worried partner.

 

Rey finally lost her patience after hours of him behaving that way.

 

“Ben, I know you’re worried, but do be a favor and SHUT THE FUCK UP! I can’t take it anymore, if you don’t shut your damn mouth, just GO!”

 

“No, no…I’m sorry. Sorry.” He murmured.

 

“Where’s Leia? Will she be here soon?” Rey asked the droid.

 

“She said she’s on her way – breathe in, out, in, slowly…Yes, you’re doing very good, my dear – I’m sure she’ll be here soon.”

 

In that exact moment, the door flew open and Leia rushed inside.

 

“Oh Force, Rey! I am so sorry I couldn’t be here earlier…” she sat down on the other side of the bed and took Rey’s free hand.

 

“It’s going to be alright, my dear. I know exactly how you feel, and the same shit twice…Dear gods. It’ll be over soon.”

 

“Push, push! I’m already seeing a head! Yes, perfect, miss Rey!” the droid cheered, and Rey tried her hardest. She’d never experienced anything more painful in her life before.

 

“Yes, Rey! Did you here that? Only a little more! Ben, get over there!”

 

Ben was very pale, even paler than he usually was, sweat was running down his forehead and his eyes widened at Leia’s suggestion.

  
“What? No, I can’t…”

 

“Force, you men are all the same! Get the hell over there, or don’t you want to hold your children?” Leia said forcefully.

 

Ben obeyed, hesitantly and nervously raising to his feet and joining the droid  on the end of the bed.

 

“Do you see that, master Solo?”

 

“Oh…There’s so much blood…” Ben’s vision was suddenly a little blurry.

 

“If you pass out, please somewhere else.” The droid said dryly, ordering Rey to continue the pushing.

 

“No…No…It’s alright.” Ben murmured, gulping.

 

And suddenly, a scream made his ears hurt. A baby’s scream.

 

“It’s the boy! Don’t stop pushing, miss Rey! The girl has to get out still! Here, take him.” The droid told Ben after it had cut through the baby’s umbilical cord, handing him a towel and…his son.

 

He was full of blood and he was crying.

 

He was beautiful.

 

Tears were streaming down Ben’s face and he wondered how he deserved something so precious.

 

“Come on Ben, you have to wash him.” Leia said.

 

“But…What if I hurt him? What if something happens to him? Mother, I can’t be allowed to hold him, I’ll break him! Look how small he is!” Ben cried and Leia rolled her eyes.

 

“You’re so much like your father. Now come on, you won’t break him.”

 

Ben was in the middle of washing his son, when another scream, a lot quieter one resounded through the room.

 

Leia took care of her grandson while Ben held his daughter in his arms for the first time, crying even harder, now that both his children were with him and save.

-

Rey and Ben were sitting on a white bench in front of their house, looking at the sunset.

 

Ben’s artificial arm was draped around Rey’s shoulders and her hand laid on her belly, round once again by their third child.

 

Their twins were playing in front of them in the green lawn, laughing.

 

_By the way, do you want to marry me?_

Rey asked through their bond.

 

_What? Yes, of course!_

 

He kissed her softly on her lips and smiled at her.

 

Ben was the luckiest man in the whole galaxy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it! Thank you so much for reading!  
> Just to let you know, I already began writing a new fanfiction, which I will probably post some time after this. But it'll take some time.   
> I'm also not so sure if I'm happy with this last chapter, but I figured I needed to finish this Ff, finally.   
> I hope you enjoyed reading this Fanfiction at least a little bit, I'm aware that it's not the most amazing Fic ever written, but as I said, I'm still practising.
> 
> See you (hopefully) soon!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading!  
> I hope you enjoyed my Ff so far, please let me know what I can do better, I'd love to have some feedback.  
> I decided to not write too long chapters (usually like 1200 words or so...), so I'll try to update once or twice a week. I'm aware that this is not very much, but I'm very busy at the moment.  
> Of course, none of the characters you know belong to me, I only invented a few characters, but they are (as you may have noticed) not in this chapter (I've already written ten chapters, so I have time to continue my story and update regularly).
> 
> See you (hopefully) next time! 
> 
> By the way, I'll also post this story on Wattpad, so if you prefer to read it there (I personally prefer Ao3 but if you want to...I'll also post no smut there), here's a link (to my profile, I didn't uploade the story there yet): https://www.wattpad.com/user/joieSW


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